PRESENTED  TO  THE  LIBRARY 


OF 


PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


lY 


BX    -■^,'     .H8    189u 

Hubbard,  Frederick,  1817- 

1895. 
Notes  on  the  history  of  the 

Church^     


NOTES  ON  THE 
HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 


H 


0])ne-l5olB-aratl)olic-^postolic;' 


BY 


FREDERICK    HUBBARD. 


Ta  dp^ata  edrj  KpareiTO. 


"  Quod  semper,  ubique  et  ab  omnibus  creditum  est." 


PRIVATELY  PRINTED. 


NEW  YORK, 

THOMAS    WHITTAKER 

2  AND  3  Bible  House. 
1896. 


TRINITY  CHURCH  SUNDAY  SCHOOL, 

New  York,  Quinquagesima,  1875. 


PREFACE. 


This  little  book  was  written  many  years  ago  hy  one 
to  whom  the  Church  was  as  a  dear  and  lovely  mother, 
and  who,  although  not  called  to  minister  at  her  altars, 
proved  himself  her  most  devoted  son  in  every  act  of  his 
stainless,  self-forgetting,  generous  life.  Her  services 
were  his  delight;  her  chants  the  only  music  upon  his 
lips ;  her  litanies  the  inspired  prayers  of  his  own  heart ; 
her  precepts  his  abiding  law;  her  feasts  and  fasts  the 
anniversaries  of  his  year.  The  world's  history  was  her 
history  to  him;  and  it  was  the  better  to  instruct  his 
class  of  young  men  at  Trinity  that  he  compiled  these 
notes,  after  wide  and  careful  reading,  and  with  no 
thought  of  their  ever  meeting  any  eyes  except  his  own. 
The  terse,  condensed  sentences,  which  bring  the  record 
by  rapid  leaps  down  the  centuries  from  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  until  present  times,  were  merely 
so  many  texts,  which  he  elaborated  Sunday  by  Sun- 
day in  his  delightful  and  inimitable  way,  lending 
to  a  fluent,  charming  diction  the  spell  of  a  delicious 


IV  PREFACE. 

voice,  which  made  music  of  every  syllable.  That  voice 
is  now  an  unforgettable  memory.  His  peaceful,  help- 
ful, beautiful  earthly  life  is  ended;  and  the  Church's 
year  fitly  closed  for  him  with  All  Saints'  Day,  when  for 
the  last  time  her  holy  words  were  spoken  over  him  in 
that  temple  which  he  loved  best,  and  in  connection 
with  which  most  of  his  noble  but  unostentatious  work 
was  done.  We  who  are  left  still  count  the  years 
through  all  of  which  we  must  miss  and  mourn  him. 
But  for  him,  time  and  its  chronicles  are  finished  forever 
in  the  blessed  measurelessness  of  Eternity. 

G.  I).  L. 

Washington,  T>.  C, 
All  Saints'  Day^  1895. 


©bituarp. 

HUBBARD.— In  NeAv  York  City,  on  October  30,  1895, 
of  consumption,  Frederick  Hubbard.  Funeral  ser- 
vices at  Trinity  Cliurch,  All  Saints'  Day.    Burial  at  Utica, 

N.  y. 

FREDERICK   HUBBARD. 

Entered  into  the  rest  of  Paradise,  at  No.  20  Union 
Square,  New  York  City,  October  30,  1895,  Frederick 
Hubbard.  In  the  close  of  a  completed  life  he  has  left 
the  memory  of  religion,  pure  and  undefiled,  to  Avhich  his 
many  friends  may  point  with  affectionate  reverence. 
Born  June  20,  1817,  in  Hamilton,  Madison  County,  of 
Thomas  H.  and  Phoebe  Hubbard,  his  boyhood  days  were 
passed  in  Utica.  Graduating  at  Hamilton  College  in  1836, 
he  adopted  the  profession  of  engineering  and  Avas  for 
many  years  connected  with  the  laying  out  of  the  early  rail- 
roads of  the  country,  especially  the  Hudson  River,  Erie, 
Micliigan  Southern  and  Northern  Indiana.  For  two 
years  he  was  engaged  in  the  erection  of  Harlem  Bridge. 
Retiring  from  business  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  he 
travelled  extensively  and  occupied  himself  with  classical 
reading  and  scientific  research.  Of  positive  conviction  in 
religion,  he  brought  to  bear  his  wide  erudition  especially 
on  Biblical  studies.  He  long  ago  identified  himself  with 
Trinity  Church,  New  York,  Avhere  he  Avas  a  regular  Avor- 
shipper  and  devout  communicant,  and  entered  into  the 
practical  Avork  of  helping  in  her  many  actiA'ities.  For 
years  he  conducted  a  Bible-class  and  gave  himself  to  in- 
teresting young  men  in  the  guilds.  Through  his  liberal 
gifts  he  Avas  practically  identified  Avith  many  parishes 
throughout  the  country.  Especially  sympathetic  Avith  the 
sick  and  needy,  he  endoAved  beds  in  St.  Luke's  Hospital 
and  St.  Mary's  Home :  but  so  unostentatious  Avas  he  in 
his  charities,  almost  to  secrecy,  that  their  extent  can  only 
be  guessed  at.  Simple  in  his  demeanor,  yet  choice  in 
his  tastes,  his  life  moved  quietly  on  Avithout  parade,  con- 
tent in  the  satisfaction  of  doing  good.  In  that  great  day 
of  rcAvard  many  Avill  rise  up  to  call  him  blessed,  and, 
though  he  has  passed  from  the  field  of  his  rich  activities 
here,  his  Avorks  do  folloAv  him. 

The  funeral  took  place  on  All  Saints'  Day,  from  Trin- 
ity Church,  NcAv  York.  The  interment  Avas  on  Saturday 
in  the  Hubbard  family  lot,  in  Forest  Hill  Cemetery, 
Utica. 

E.  B.  S. 


"  Ecclesiam  tuam,  qucesumus,  Domine,  miser atio 
confimcata  mundet  et  muniat ;  et,  quia  sine  te  non 
potest  salva  consisterej  tuo  semper  munere  guber- 
neter.  Per  Dominium  nostrum  Jesum  Christum. 
Amen.'' 

Ancient  Collect. 
XVI.  Trinity. 


BOOKS   CONSULTED. 

Robertson's  "  History  of  the  Church,"  4  vols.     (3d 
Ed.  Rev.)     London  :  John  Murray,  1868. 

Dr.  Mahan's  "  Church  History." 
Sewel's  "  Church  History." 
Waddington's  "  Chui'ch  History." 
D'Aubigne's  "  History  of  the  Reformation." 
Hard  wick's  "  Church  History — Reformation." 
Carwithen's  "  History  of  the  Church  of  England." 


NOTES  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF 
THE  CHURCH. 


A  STRIKING  parallelism  exists  between  the  Jewish 
and  the  Christian  churches.  Both  look — the  one  for- 
ward, the  other  backward — toward  the  great  central 
fact  of  Christ's  Atonement;  the  one  prefiguring  it  by 
sacrificial  types,  the  other  showing  it  forth  by  the 
bloodless  Sacrifice  of  the  Christian  altar.  Both  are 
older  than  the  Scriptures  of  their  respective  dispensa- 
tions. Both  were  divinely  founded.  They  had  each  a 
threefold  ministry.  Circumcision  in  the  one  was  re- 
placed by  Baptism  in  the  other,  as  initiatory  rites. 
;^toses  was  forty  days  in  the  Mount  receiving  the  full 
particulars  of  the  Ceremonial  Law.  The  Apostles 
were  with  their  Master  during  the  '^  Great  Forty 
Days ''  after  His  Kesurrection,  wdiile  ^^  He  spake  to 
them  of  the  things  concerning  His  Kingdom." 

The  Jewish  sacrifices  were  offered  for  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  until  the  Antitype  came;  and  then,  when 
Christ  our  Passover  was  sacrificed  for  us,  and  all  things 
written  in  the  law  were  accomplished,   the  Jewish 


2  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

polity  ceased,  the  sacred  mysteries  were  ended,  and  the 
Veil  of  the  Temple  was  rent  in  twain. 

Thus,  in  the  organization  which  prefigured,  and  in 
that  which  enjoyed  the  fulfilment,  the  sacred  plan  is 
one. 


FIRST  CENTURY. 

The  Christian  Churcli  dates  from  Pentecost.  In- 
structions to  the  Apostles  were  given  before  the  Ascen- 
sion— the  final  commission  at  that  time.  They  and 
their  successors  were  to  visit  all  the  w^orld  and  preach 
to  every  creature.  The  ministry  was  to  be  perpetual, 
and  the  promise  to  it  was:   '^  I  am  with  you  alway." 

The  first  act  of  the  Apostles  was  to  complete  their 
immber  by  the  choice  of  Saint  Matthias.  Ten  days 
after  (a.d.  33),  on  the  anniversary  of  the  giving  of  the 
law  on  Mount  Sinai,  followed  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  at  Pentecost  to  disseminate  Christianity  with 
the  gift  of  tongues.  The  immediate  result  was  the  ad- 
mission into  the  Church  by  baptism  of  three  thousand 
converts,  who  continued  steadfastly  in  the  Apostles' 
fellowship.  The  boldness  of  the  Apostles  was  in  sud- 
den contrast  with  their  previous  timidity. 

The  Apostles  remained  in  Jerusalem  about  twelve 
years.  In  a.d.  34,  the  Deacons  were  appointed.  In 
A.D.  35,  Saint  James,  son  of  Alphaeus,  was  made  Bishop 
of  Jerusalem.  Persecution  began  with  the  martyrdom 
of  Saint  Stephen  (a.d.  37).  Soon  followed  the  conver- 
sion of  Saul.  When  Saint  Philip,  the  Deacon,  bap- 
tized at  Samaria,  the  Apostles  Peter  and  John  were 
sent  there  to  confirm.    In  a.d.  41,  Cornelius  and  other 


4:  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Gentiles  were  admitted  by  Saint  Peter  to  the  Church. 
Saul,  having  been  set  apart  for  the  ApostoHc  office, 
was  brought  out  by  Saint  Barnabas,  also  of  the  Succes- 
sion, with  whom  he  laboured  in  Antioch,  where  the 
name  of  Christians  originated  (a.d.  45).  The  two  then 
made  a  missionary  journey  to  Cyprus  and  Asia  Minor. 
In  A.D.  37,  the  Emperor  Caligula  banished  Pilate  to 
Gaul;  and  tradition  adds  that  he  ended  his  life  by 
drowning  himself  in  the  dismal  lake  on  the  summit  of 
Mount  Pilatus,  and  that,  whenever  his  form  was  seen 
rising  from  the  water  with  the  old  gesture  of  hand- 
washing, the  mists  of  a  gathering  storm  would  shroud 
the  peak  (Scott's  "  Anne  of  Geierstein,"  chap.  i.).  In 
A.D.  43,  Herod  Agrippa,  grandson  of  Herod  the  Great, 
put  to  the  sword  the  Apostle  James  (not  the  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  but  the  brother  of  Saint  John),  and  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria  relates  that  the  person  who  ac- 
cused him  was  so  moved  by  his  testimony  to  Christ  that 
he  professed  himself  a  Christian,  and  both  were  led  to- 
gether to  the  execution.  On  the  way  thither  he  craved 
pardon  of  James  for  the  wrong  he  had  done  him ;  and 
the  Apostle,  regarding  him  a  while,  said:  ^'  Peace  be 
with  you,''  and  kissed  him.  And  so  both  were  be- 
headed together  (Wordsworth,  Acts  xii.,  2).  The  mis- 
erable death  of  Herod  followed  soon  after  (a.d.  44).  In 
the  third  year  of  his  reign  he  was  at  Csesarea,  attend- 
ing some  games  in  honour  of  his  imperial  patron, 
Claudius.  On  the  second  day  of  the  games,  royally 
arrayed  in  a  robe  made  all  of  silver  wonderfully  woven, 
he  came  early  to  the  theatre.    There,  in  the  first  dart- 


FIRST   CENTURY.  5 

ing  of  the  sunbeams,  tlie  illumined  silver  sparkled 
rtiarvellously,  glistening  terribly,   and  cbilling  with 
fear  those  that  looked  on  him.    Instantly  the  flatterers 
set  up  the  cry,  "  A  God  !    Be  favourable."    The  King 
neither  checked  them  nor  repudiated  the  flattery. 
Soon  after,  looking  upward  he  saw  the  owl  sitting 
above  his  head  on  a  rope.    He  knew  it  to  be  the  angel 
of  evil.    With  heart-piercing  agony,  he  fell  into  a  vio- 
lent sickness,  and  in  five  days  was  dead  (Josephus, 
''  Antiquities,''  XIX.,  viii.,  2).    The  dispersion  of  the 
disciples   by   persecution   disseminated   the    Church. 
Saint  Matthew's   Gospel  was   written,   probably   in 
Greek,  before  the  final  separation  of  the  Apostles,  be- 
tween A.D.  40  and  45. 

In  A.D.  50-52,  the  Council  at  Jerusalem,  under  the 
presidency  of  Saint  James  (Acts  xv.)  settled  the  ques- 
tion of  circumcision  in  the  Church.  In  a.d.  50-53, 
Saint  Paul  made  a  wide  journey,  founding  churches. 
Saint  Timothy  and  Saint  Luke  joined  him.  He  settled 
awhile  in  Corinth.  In  a.d.  54-58,  he  journeyed  again, 
tarried  in  Ephesus,  then  went  to  Jerusalem,  where  he 
was  seized  and  imprisoned  for  two  years  at  Csesarea, 
and  sent  to  Kome.  There  he  remained  from  a.d.  60  to 
63,  when  he  was  released  and  travelled,  as  is  con- 
fidently asserted,  into  Spain,  Gaul  and  Britain.  The 
first  general  persecution  raged  under  Xero  from  a.d. 
60  to  67.  In  the  latter  year  Saint  Paul  returned  to 
Kome,  where,  with  Saint  Peter,  he  was  put  to  death 
(June  29).  His  last  epistle  was  the  Second  to  Saint 
Timothy,  shortly  before  his  execution.     The  reign  of 


6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Nero  (54-68)  was  marked  by  religious  persecutions, 
civil  disturbances,  and  wars.  Both  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians were  mercilessly  slaughtered.  Saint  James,  for 
thirty  years  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was  put  to  death 
about  A.D.  63.  He  was  killed  with  a  club,  while  repeat- 
ing his  Master's  prayer,  '^  Father,  forgive  them.'' 
About  the  same  time  Saint  Mark  was  martyred  in 
Alexandria,  being  seized  while  celebrating  the  Easter 
solemnities,  and  dragged  through  the  streets  until  he 
died.  His  remains  were  burned,  but  were  preserved 
by  the  Christians  and  afterwards  carried  to  Venice. 
The  Jews  rebelled  against  the  Romans,  and  were  suc- 
cessful for  a  time.  Our  Lord's  prophecy  of  fearful 
commotions  (Matt.,  xxiv.)  was  literally  fulfilled,  the 
events  being  fully  testified  to  by  Josephus  ("  Wars," 
v.,  ii.,  5).  Solemn  warnings  foretold  the  impend- 
ing fate  of  Jerusalem:  a  sword-like  star  and  year- 
long comet,  the  bright  light  in  the  Temple,  the 
heavy  brazen  doors  opened,  the  armies  in  the  clouds, 
the  quaking  by  night  and  the  voice:  "  Let  us  remove 
hence,"  one  Jesus,  the  son  of  Annas,  crying,  "  Woe!" 
in  the  streets  ("  Wars,"  VL,  v.,  3).  The  fearful  de- 
struction of  this  devoted  city  took  place  in  the  year  70 
or  72,  on  the  same  day  of  the  week  and  month  on  which 
Solomon's  Temple  had  been  burned  by  IN^ebuchadnez- 
zar.  One  million  one  hundred  thousand  persons  per- 
ished in  this  war  and  bloody  siege.  The  Christians, 
obeying  the  warning  of  their  Master  (Matt,  xxiv.,  16), 
escaped  before  the  final  scene. 

Symeon,  also  a  cousin  of  our  Lord,  succeeded  Saint 


FIRST  CENTURY.  7 

James  as  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  for  forty-five  years.  He 
was  martyred  by  crucifixion,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty,  in  the  reign  of  Trajan,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Justus.  Twelve  Bishops,  probably  all  of  whom 
were  martyrs,  followed,  with  brief  Episcopates.  The 
sixteenth  was  Marcus,  a  Gentile,  at  the  time  of  the 
second  overthrow  of  the  city  by  Hadrian,  a.d.  135. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  Saint  Peter  was  Bishop  of 
Rome.  Linus  was  Bishop  l^y  unquestioned  authority, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  appbinted  in  a.d.  58.  He  was 
followed  by  Clement,  who  left  an  epistle,  to  the  Corin- 
thians, on  discipline. 

Saint  John  was  the  last  survivor  of  the  Apostles. 
He  founded  the  Seven  Churches  of  Asia,  and  wrote  to 
them  the  Book  of  the  Revelation.  In  the  persecution 
under  Domitian,  Saint  John  was  plunged  into  a  cal- 
dron of  boiling  oil,  and  by  a  miracle,  "  having  suffered 
nothing,'^  escaped  unharmed.  On  one  of  his  visita- 
tions, he  met  with  a  well-formed,  bright-eyed,  earnest 
youth.  He  committed  him  to  the  care  of  the  Bishop, 
who  educated  him,  and  in  time  baptized  him,  and  then 
relaxed  his  guardianship.  Falling  in  with  evil  associ- 
ates, the  young  man  became  at  length  a  robber  chief. 
Saint  John  long  after  returned  and  inquired  for  his 
convert.  ^'  He  is  dead,"  said  the  Bishop,  "  dead  to 
God.  He  has  proven  vicious  and  abandoned  and,  worst 
of  all,  a  bandit.  And  now,  instead  of  the  Church,  he 
has  seized  yon  mountain  with  armed  men."  Saint 
John  was  beside  himself  with  grief.  Calling  for  a 
horse  and  a  guide,  he  went  to  the  robber  outpost  and 


8  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

was  taken,  as  lie  intended,  and  led  before  tlie  chief. 
The  robber,  awaiting  him  in  arms,  recognized  him, 
and  fled  in  shame.  Saint  John,  regardless  of  his 
age,  pursued,  crying  after  him:  ''  Why  dost  thou  flee 
me,  unarmed  and  old,  my  child  ?  Pity  me !  Fear  not ! 
Thou  hast  yet  hope  of  life.  I  will  intercede  with  Christ 
for  thee.  If  need  be,  I  will  willingly  die  for  thee,  as 
the  Lord  for  me.''  Throwing  down  his  arms,  the  rob- 
ber stood  abashed.  Then,  weeping  bitterly,  he  re- 
ceived the  old  man  and  was  baptized  with  his  tears, 
and  was  led  back  repentant  into  the  Church.  Saint 
John  wrote  his  Gospel  shortly  before  his  death,  which 
happened  in  the  year  98,  in  the  ninety-ninth  year  of  his 
age. 

The  Government  of  the  Church  was  committed  to 
the  Apostles  and  to  those  subsequently  appointed  by 
or  divinely  added  to  them.  Their  authority  was  equal, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  their  order  was  divinely  assured. 
Our  Lord  had  added  seventy  disciples,  who  were  the 
attendants  and  assistants  of  the  Apostles,  and  from 
whose  number  those  selected  for  the  higher  rank  were 
appointed.  They  were  called  Presbyters  or  Elders. 
Then  the  Deacons,  at  first  seven  only,  were  added  to  fill 
a  still  more  subordinate  situation.  Such  was  the  Apos- 
tolic order,  wherever  established.  The  power  of  ordi- 
nation was  exclusively  exercised  by  the  highest  oflice. 
The  Bishops  of  Ephesus,  Crete,  Rome,  Alexandria, 
and  so  forth,  were  sent  by  the  Apostles  themselves, 
with  authority  to  govern,  where  Presbyters  were  set- 
tled already.    To  this  Apostolic  order  attest  Clemens 


FIKST  CENTURY.  9 

of  Rome  and  Ignatius  of  Antiocli  in  their  writings,  and 
after  them  a  cloud  of  witnesses  in  every  age. 

To  guard  against  corruption  of  the  Apostolic  teach- 
ing, they  early  adopted  a  Symbol  or  Creed,  as  a  brief 
formula  of  important  doctrine.  This  is  often  alluded 
to  in  the  Scriptures  as  "the  form  of  sound  words  ^' 
(2  Tim.  i.,  13),  "  that  form  of  doctrine  "  (Eom.  vi., 
17),  "  the  faith  which  was  once  delivered  to  the 
saints  ''  (Jude  3).  There  was  little  need  of  instruction 
in  rites  and  ceremonies  in  the  Apostolic  Church,  famil- 
iar as  it  was  with  the  full  and  divine  ritual  of  the  Jew- 
ish Church.  Baptism  as  an  act  of  initiation  was  sub- 
stituted for  circumcision.  The  Lord's  Supper  was 
regularly  celebrated  on  the  First  Day  of  the  week. 
The  Agape,  an  early  institution,  was  afterwards 
dropped  on  account  of  abuses.  The  ancient  act  of  lay- 
ing on  of  hands  was  continued  in  confirmation  and 
ordination.  The  rise  of  Unction  in  these  services  was 
probably  later  than  the  first  century,  but  was  at  that 
time  employed  in  Visitation  of  the  Sick.  The  earliest 
liturgies  were  of  undoubted  Apostolic  origin.  The 
Lord's  Day  took  the  place  of  the  Sabbath.  The 
morality  of  the  early  Church  was  framed  on  the  high 
standard  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 


SECOND   CENTURY. 

Ikreligion  and  cruelty  marked  the  Roman  people. 
Christians  were  separated  from  them  socially,  and  were 
hated  for  their  exclusiveness.  The  religion  of  Christ 
gained  among  the  reflecting  and  among  the  oppressed. 
The  beginning  of  the  second  century  was  a  period  of 
quiet  growth  of  the  Church.  Saint  Ignatius  (a.d.  70) 
was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Antioch,  the  capital  of 
Syria,  a  rich  and  luxurious  city,  of  two  hundred  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  Christianity  had  been  early  planted 
here,  and  the  name  of  Christian  originated  in  Antio3h 
(Acts  xi.,  26).  I  gnat  ins  and  Poltjcarp  were  disciples  of 
Saint  John.  The  former  had  been  Bishop  forty  years 
when  the  Emperor  Trajan  entered  Antioch.  Trajan, 
who  reigned  from  99  to  117  a.d.,  was  a  bigot  and  a 
persecutor  of  Christians.  Ignatius  presented  himself 
to  the  Emperor  and  declared  and  defended  his  Faith. 
He  was  condemned  to  the  amphitheatre  in  Rome,  and 
carried  thither  in  chains.  As  he  tarried  at  Smyrna, 
he  visited  Polycarp  and  wrote  letters  to  several 
churches.  He  was  martyred  by  being  thrown  to  wild 
beasts  about  a.d.  117.  He  was  a  cheerful  and  ready 
martyr,  and  a  conspicuous  example  to  the  whole  Cath- 
olic Church.  His  Epistles  urge  obedience  to  the  rulers 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.     He  says:    "Without  the 


SECOND  CENTURY.  11 

Bishop  and  Presbyters,  there  is  no  Church."  Secta- 
rians in  this  age  have  vainly  attacked  the  authenticity 
of  these  letters.  They  are  quoted  by  Polycarp  in  his 
writings,  and  by  others.  About  111  a.d.,  Pliny,  a 
Eoman  governor  in  Asia  Minor,  wrote  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan  about  the  Christians.  He  speaks  of  their  assem- 
bling before  light,  and  of  their  voavs  of  a  holy  life. 
This  letter  and  reply  are  preserved. 

Hadrian  was  Emperor  from  a.d.  117  to  138.  He 
went  to  Judea  and  insulted  both  the  Jews  and  the 
Christians  there,  also  to  Alexandria,  and  to  Athens. 
At  the  latter  city,  the  Bishop  Quadratus  presented  him 
a  written  apology  for  Christianity.  Quadratus  was  a 
disciple  of  the  Apostles  and  a  witness  of  many  of  their 
miracles.  Hadrian  was  not  disposed  to  persecute,  yet 
there  was  much  persecution  of  the  Christians  during 
his  reign.  The  Jews,  led  by  Barcochab,  a  pretended 
Messiah,  rose  in  rebellion  (a.d.  131)  and  were  subdued 
after  great  slaughter.  The  Christian  Jews  did  not 
rebel.  Hadrian  profaned  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and 
changed  the  name  of  Jerusalem  to  ^lia  Capitolina. 
The  Christians  of  Jerusalem  now  resigned  all  Jewish 
rites.  They  chose  a  Gentile  Bishop.  Hadrian  was 
succeeded,  in  a.d.  138,  by  Antoninus  Pius,  who  was 
still  more  favourably  disposed  toward  the  Christians. 
To  him  was  addressed  the  celebrated  Apology  ofJustin 
Martyr.  Justin  was  born  in  Sichem  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  century.  A  man  of  great  learning, 
and  with  an  ardent  thirst  after  truth,  he  went  to  Alex- 
andria and  studied  in  the  principal  schools  of  heathen 


X* 


12  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

pliilosophy.  Dissatisfied  with  them  all,  lie  met  an  aged 
Christian,  who  instructed  him  and  converted  him  to  the 
Christian  faith.  He  went  to  Rome,  where  he  com- 
bated heresies  in  the  Church.  His  "  Apology,"  pub- 
lished A.D.  150,  describes  the  worship  of  the  Christians, 
particularly  the  weekly  service  of  the  Eucharist,  and 
speaks  of  ''  Regeneration  "  in  Baptism,  of  partaking 
in  the  Holy  Supper  of  the  "  Body  and  Blood,"  of  the 
Crucifixion  on  Friday  and  of  the  Resurrection  on  Sun- 
day. He  was  an  earnest  student  of  the  sacred 
Scriptures.  Probably  he  was  never  ordained  to  the 
priesthood.  During  the  persecutions  of  Marcus  Aure- 
lius  the  Emperor  (a.d.  161),  Justin  defended  some 
who  had  been  cruelly  put  to  death  for  their  faith.  Re- 
fusing to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  he,  with  six  others,  was 
martyred  at  Rome  by  scourging  and  beheading  about 
A.D.  165.  The  Church  extended  itself  in  spite  of  oppo- 
sition. ^'  The  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the 
Church." 

Polycarp^the  disciple  of  Saint  John  and  the  "  Angel 
of  the  Church  in  Smyrna  "  (Rev.  ii.,  8),  fell  in  this 
persecution,  aged  eighty-six  years.  Between  the  years 
150  and  160,  he  went  to  Rome  to  confer  with  Anicetus 
on  the  subject  of  the  time  of  Easter.  The  two  Bishops 
differed,  and  could  not  agree,  but  there  was  no  inter- 
ruption of  their  friendly  unity.  Rome  had  not  yet 
claimed  supremacy.  Persecution  broke  out  in  Smyrna. 
Polycarp  retired  at  the  solicitation  of  his  friends  not  to 
thrust  himself  upon  martyrdom.  He  was  followed  and 
seized.    He  feasted  his  captors.    When  he  was  brought 


SECOND  CENTURY.  13 

before  tlie  magistrate,  that  officer,  in  pity  of  his  age, 
endeavoured  to  persuade  him  to  deny  Christ.    He  con- 
tinued firm,  in  spite  of  every  threat,  refusing  to  deny 
the  Master  whom  he  had  served  for  '^  four  score  and  six 
years.''    He  was  condemned  to  the  stake.    The  details 
of  his  martyrdom  and  his  prayer  amid  the  flames  are 
given  in  an  epistle  (which  is  preserved)  of  the  Church 
in  Smyrna.    He  suffered  about  a.d.  167,  realizing  the 
promise  in  Revelation  (ii.,  10):    ^^  Be  thou  faithful 
unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life,"  ad- 
dressed to  the  "  Angel  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna,'' 
either    Poly  carp    himself    or    his    immediate    prede- 
cessor. 
.  .^r.    Montanvs,  an  enthusiast  (a.d.  lYl),  pretended  to  be 
■*^^  V  •'-  "^  a  prophet,  and  troubled  the  Church  by  preaching  pecu- 
'      ^^     liar  theories  as  to  discipline.    He  had  many  followers, 
'  .y"  known  as  Montanists.    Montanism  was  a  severe  asceti- 

cism—a kind  of  spiritualism,  encouraging  pretended 
prophetic  raptures.  Its  author  attempted  to  organize 
a  ministry,  claimed  as  superior  to  that  of  the  Church. 

Fierce  persecutions  raged  during  this  reign  of  Mar- 
cus Aurelius.  ITumbers  were  put  to  most  cruel  tor- 
tures, and  died  bravely  for  the  Faith.  The  story  of 
the  "  Thundering  Legion  "  is  laid  in  a.d.  174.  This 
was  a  Christian  legion  in  the  army  of  Marcus  Aure- 
lius. In  answer  to  their  prayers,  a  refreshing  shower 
descended  upon  the  thirsting  host,  and  a  storm  of  light- 
ning and  hail  discomfited  their  enemies,  who  had 
attacked  them  while  "  thus  partly  disarmed  and 
quenching  their  thirst."    At  Lyons,  in  Gaul,  Pothinus, 


14  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

a  friend  of  Polycarp,  was  Bishop.  Many  were  thrown 
to  the  beasts  there  in  the  amphitheatre,  among  them 
Sanctus,  Alexander,  and  Blandina,  a  slave.  Pothinus, 
more  than  ninety  years  old,  was  tortured  and  died  in 
prison  (a.d.  170-180). 

The  Church  had  a  period  of  comparative  rest  under 
the  Emperor  Commodus  (a.d.  180-192);  yet  Appol- 
onius,  a  Senator  of  Rome,  was  martyred  by  beheading 
for  the  Christian  Faith  about  the  year  190.  He  read  a 
defence  of  Christianity  before  the  Roman  Senate. 

Victor,  Bishop  of  Rome  (a.d.  189  or  196),  endeav- 
oured to  compel  other  Churches  to  adopt  the  AVestern 
rule  as  to  the  time  of  Easter.  He  was  opposed  by  the 
Eastern  Bishops.  The  question  caused  great  discus- 
sion, but  did  not  interrupt  Christian  unity.  Irenseus, 
a  priest  of  Lyons,  prevailed  with  Victor  to  amend  his 
attitude  toward  those  who  differed  with  him.  Saint 
\^Irenceus  was  born  in  Asia  Minor  (a.d.  120).  He  was 
a  pupil  of  Polycarp  and  Pothinus.  He  was  a  man  of 
learning,  and  the  author  of  many  valuable  writings. 
He  defended  the  Catholic  faith  against  various  her- 
esies. He  named  the  books  of  the  I^ew  Testament  as 
inspired,  and  so  accepted  by  the  Church  in  his  age. 
He  was  entrusted  with  a  letter  from  the  martyrs  in 
prison  at  Lyons,  directed  against  the  Montanist  heresy. 
He  was  raised  to  the  Episcopate  of  Lyons,  and  under 
the  persecution  of  Septimus  Severus  (a.d.  202)  was 
put  to  death  for  his  faith. 

Gnosticism  in  the  early  centuries  was  a  mixture  of 
various  religions,  uniting  some  of  the  doctrines  and 


SECOND   CENTURY.  15 

forms  of  Christianity  with  the  subtile  speculations  of 
heathen  philosophy.  It  had  many  teachers  and  end- 
less varieties.  They  pretended  to  superior  knowledge, 
and  to  interpret  Scripture  from  an  inner  sense.  They 
believed  in  one  Supreme  Deity,  from  whom  proceeded 
JEonSy  or  spiritual  emanations. 


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THIRD   CENTURY. 

Tertullian  lived  from  a.d.  135  (or  160?)  to  217. 
He  was  a  learned  man,  an  ascetic  and  much  respected, 
but  not  wholly  free  from  the  errors  of  the  Montanists. 
Previous  to  his  lapse,  he  wrote  an  apology  for  Chris- 
tianity. He  was  the  leader  of  a  party  not  considered 
altogether  orthodox.  Many  valuable  treatises  by  him 
are  preserved. 

Early  in  this  century  flourished  Origen,  bom  a.d. 
185,  a  man  of  ascetic  habits,  precocious  learning,  full 
of  zeal  and  encouraging  the  love  of  martyrdom.  His 
father  was  a  martyr.  In  a.d.  203,  he  was  chosen  mas- 
ter of  the  famous  Christian  School  at  Alexandria, 
which  was  said  to  date  from  Saint  Mark,  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  second  century.  It  became  a  seminary  for 
the  training  of  the  clergy.  Many  of  both  sexes  were 
trained  up  for  martyrdom.  He  was  ordained  to  the 
priesthood  in  Palestine,  where  he  afterwards  took  up 
his  residence  in  a.d.  230.  His  ordination  was  opposed 
by  Demetrius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria.  Origen  endeav- 
oured to  harmonize  Christianity  with  heathen  phi- 
losophy. His  writings  are  supposed  to  have  been  cor- 
rupted by  heretics  in  a  subsequent  age.  He  claimed  a 
mystic  as  well  as  a  literal  sense  in  the  Scriptures. 
Origen  was  the  author  of  commentaries  on  the  Script- 
ures and  numerous  learned  treatises.    He  spent  many 


THIRD  CENTURY.  H 

years  in  correcting  the  translation  of  the  Greek  Sep- 
tuagint.  (The  elate  of  the  Septuagint  is  the  second 
century  before  Christ.)  He  published  a  defence  of 
Christianity,  and  commentaries  on  the  Prophets  and 
on  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew.  He  made  many  con- 
verts from  heathenism.  He  was  imprisoned  during 
the  Decian  persecution,  and  racked,  and  after  many 
sufferings  was  released  and  died  at  Tyre  about  a.d. 
255.  He  is  held  by  many  as  heretical  in  his  specula- 
tions. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  century  were  many  martyrs, 
among  them  women  and  persons  of  rank.  Under  Sep- 
temius  Severus  (a.d.  203),  Perpetua  of  Carthage,  con- 
stant to  her  religion,  was  exposed  to  wild  beasts  and 
finally  put  to  death  by  the  sword,  with  the  slave  Fe- 
licitas  and  other  female  companions.  Persecution 
ceased  on  the  death  of  this  Emperor  (a.d.  211). 

A  pupil  of  Origen  was  Gregory  Thanmatiirgn,^ 
("  the  wonder  Avorker  ")  of  l^eo-Csesarea  in  Cappa- 
docia,  Asia  Minor.  A  man  of  rank,  extraordinary  gifts 
and  commanding  talents,  he  was  converted  by  Origen 
and  afterwards  (a.d.  235)  consecrated  Bishop  of  Xeo- 
Csesarea.  He  was  largely  influential  in  converting 
the  heathen  of  his  diocese.  He  drew  up  a  form  of 
Creed,  similar  to  that  afterwards  adopted  at  Mcsea. 
Many  miracles  are  related  as  having  been  performed 
by  him,  some  doubtful,  some  well  attested.  About 
250  A.D.,  he  is  said  to  have  been  admonished  by  a 
vision  to  escape  with  his  people  from  the  Decian  perse- 
cution.   They  retired  into  the  wilderness,  where  they 


18  HISTORY   OF  THE  CHURCH. 

were  said  to  have  been  miraculously  concealed  from 
their  enemies.    Gregory  lived  to  a  great  age. 

The  Decian  persecution  broke  out  on  the  accession 
of  that  Emperor  (a.d.  249).  Alexander,  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  was  tortured  and  died  in  prison.  Many 
Christians  apostatized,  among  them  Eudaemon,  Bishop 
of  Smyrna.  Pionius,  a  priest  of  that  city,  was  a  faith- 
ful confessor  and  suffered,  as  Poly  carp  had  before  him, 
at  the  stake.  Many,  particularly  in  Egypt,  were  driven 
by  persecution  into  the  deserts,  where  they  lived  as  her- 
mits. Hence  arose  the  spirit  of  anchoritism.  An- 
thony, the  Hermit,  born  a.d.  251,  was  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  of  these.  He  was  rich  and  noble,  but  gave 
up  all  and  spent  his  life  in  seclusion.  He  imagined 
himself  assaulted  by  demons.  He  lived  to  an  extreme 
old  age,  one  hundred  and  four  years. 

The  Episcopate  was  carried  into  North  Africa  about 
the  beginning  of  the  second  century.  Little  is  known 
of  its  early  history  there.  In  the  year  215,  seventy 
Bishops  were  present  at  a  Council  in  Carthage.  The 
African  Church  had  grown  lax  in  its  discipline  before 
the  time  of  Cyprian.  Luxury  invaded  all  classes,  and 
sometimes  even  the  priesthood.  Cyprian,  born  a.d. 
200,  a  man  of  rank  and  wealth  in  Carthage,  and  a 
teacher  of  eloquence,  was  converted  to  Christianity 
shortly  before  the  Decian  persecution.  He  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  priesthood,  and  was  so  much  beloved  for 
his  holy  life  that  the  office  of  Bishop  was  pressed  upon 
him.  He  consented  to  receive  it  with  great  reluctance 
(a.d.  248),  and  wisely  administered  its  duties.    He  ex- 


THIRD  CENTURY.  19 

ercised  strict  discipline  in  Ins  holy  office.    The  state  of 
the  Church  in  Carthage  shows  "  the  real   working- 
power  of  the  Church  practically  distributed  among 
three  classes.     There  were  the  clergy,  headed  by  the 
Bishop,  but  considerably  impaired  in  influence  by  the 
prevalence  of  party  spirit;    the  laity,  represented  in 
the  ISTorth  African  Church  by  the  senior es  populi,  a 
sort  of  lay-elders,  who  acted  with  the  Church  in  all 
matters  of  discipline  and  Church  business;  and  lastly, 
the  Martyrs,  Confessors,  Virgins  and  the  like — an  ir- 
regular   semi-clerical    third    power — the    weight    of 
which  was  generally  thrown  into  the  scale  of  popular 
opinion.    Theoretically,  the  Bishop  was  the  head  of  the 
system.     Practically,  each  class  had  a  voice  of  unde- 
fined potency  "  (Mahan,  p.  231  et  seq.).     The  impu- 
dence of  the  Confessors,  with  whom  the  prisons  were 
crowded,  "  their  insolence,  self-conceit  and  spirit  of 
bravado   were   the   natural   accompaniments   of   un- 
tutored courage.    Enthusiasm  became  a  substitute  for 
faith."    ^'  Flattery  and  adulation  enveloped  them  in  a 
cloud  of  impenetrable  self-delusion.     Popular  senti- 
ment regarded  the  Confessor  as  nearer  to  God,  and 
consequently  more  powerful  than  the  Bishop  "  (Ma- 
han, p.  237).  "  The  lapsed  were  to  be  shut  off  from  the 
Table  of  the  Lord,"  until  restored;    but  Cyprian  was 
troubled  with  the  absurd  claim  of  the  Confessors  to 
give  "  full  pardon  to  the  lapsed."    Cyprian  went  into 
retirement  awhile  from  the  persecutors,  who  sought 
his  life.    From  his  retreat  he  governed  the  Church  and 
wrote  many  epistles  and  treatises,  which  are  carefully 


20  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

preserved  and  are  of  the  greatest  value.  They  picture 
the  state  of  the  Church  in  that  period,  its  doctrine  and 
ministry.  Cyprian  and  Stephen,  Bishop  of  Rome,  had 
a  controversy  on  the  subject  of  heretical  baptism. 
There  was  no  claim  then  of  Roman  supremacy.  This 
baptism  was  condemned  by  a  Council  held  in  Carthage 
in  A.D.  256.  The  Bishop  of  Aries  having  fallen  into 
heresy,  Cyprian  wrote  to  Stephen,  because  of  his  near- 
ness, to  assist  the  Church  there.  He  wrote  also  to  cer- 
tain Spanish  churches,  whose  Bishops  had  apostatized 
and  were  supposed  to  be  supported  by  Rome,  to  stand 
firm  against  its  aid.  Fabianus,  Bishop  of  Rome,  was 
martyred  about  a.d.  249.  The  story  of  the  Seven 
Sleepers  of  Ephesus  (Gibbon,  '^  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire,"  Chap,  xxxiii.)  is  that  seven  noble 
youths  of  Ephesus  concealed  themselves  during  the 
Decian  persecution  in  a  cave,  and  by  orders  of  the  Em- 
peror were  walled  in.  After  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  years  of  deep  slumber  they  were  awakened  by 
slaves  who  were  removing  the  stones  for  building  ma- 
terial. They  looked  out  upon  a  new  world.  When 
they  had  received  the  wondering  benediction  of  the 
Bishop  and  the  Emperor  Theodosius  "  they  at  the  same 
instant  peaceably  expired." 

The  ^N^ovatian  Schism  broke  out  at  Rome  (a.d.  251), 
fomented  by  some  who  were  the  personal  enemies  of 
Cyprian  and  men  of  evil  life.  N^ovatian  procured  con- 
secration as  Bishop,  and  set  himself  in  opposition  to 
Cornelius,  Bishop  of  Rome.  The  case  was  submitted 
to  Cyprian,  who  in  council  decided  against  the  schis- 


THIBD  CENTUEY.  21 

matics.    They  lingered  as  a  party  for  a  while,  and  were 
even  joined  by  several  Bishops. 

In  A.D.  252,  a  plague  broke  out  in  Alexandria  and 
Carthage.  The  panic  of  the  heathen  contrasted  with 
the  courage  of  the  Christian.  Cyprian  set  an  example 
of  care  for  the  sick.  Persecutions  arose  again  under 
the  Emperor  Valerian  (a.d.  254-259).  Stephen  and 
several  other  Bishops  were  put  to  death  in  Rome,  and 
Christians  sought  refuge  in  a  life  in  the  Catacombs. 
Cyprian  was  brought  before  the  Proconsul  in  Africa. 
He  confessed  his  faith  and  was  banished  to  a  town  fifty 
miles  from  Carthage.  He  was  afterwards  permitted  to 
return,  but  on  more  stringent  orders  from  the  Em- 
peror was  seized,  and,  refusing  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods, 
was  beheaded  (a.d.  258).  The  cruel  Valerian,  de- 
feated in  a  battle  in  Persia,  was  taken  prisoner  and 
flayed  alive.  In  a.d.  247,  Dionysius  the  Great  was 
Bishop  of  Alexandria.  He  was  a  distinguished  up- 
holder of  the  Catholic  faith  against  dawning  heresies, 
Xystus  (or  Sixtus),  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  his  deacon. 
Saint  Lawrence,  were  martyred  a.d.  259.  Many  stories 
are  related  of  the  constancy  of  the  martyrs  at  this  time. 
The  child  Cyril  at  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia  could  not  be 
dissuaded  by  threats  or  blows,  by  expulsion  from  his 
father's  house,  by  the  annoyances  of  his  mates,  nor  by 
the  leniency  of  the  judge  from  confessing  Christ.  The 
sight  of  the  fire  did  not  weaken  him.  ^^  I  rejoice  to 
bear  your  reproaches,"  he  said.  "  I  go  to  a  better  house 
and  more  excellent  riches,''  and  went  joyfully  to  his 
death. 


22  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHUECH. 

In  Antioch,  Sapricius,  a  presbyter,  and  Mcephorus, 
a  layman,  once  friends,  liad  become  estranged.  IN^i- 
cephorus,  after  a  time,  relented  and  songlit  reconcilia- 
tion in  vain.  In  the  sndden  persecution,  Sapricius 
promptly  avowed  bis  faith  in  '^  our  King,  Jesus  Christ, 
who  is  the  true  God  and  the  Creator  of  heaven  and 
earth.''  Nicephorus  persisted  in  being  led  with  him  to 
the  execution,  though  unforgiven.  At  the  last  mo- 
ment, the  presbyter  recanted,  while  Nicephorus,  who 
boldly  declared,  "  I  believe  in  the  !N^ame  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  hath  renounced,"  was  be- 
headed (Milner,  Cent.  III.,  Chap.  xvi.).  Saint  Baby- 
las,  Bishop  of  Antioch,  was  martyred  by  the  sword 
(a.d.  250),  singing  songs  of  triumph:  "  Return  unto 
thy  rest,  O  my  soul,  for  the  Lord  has  dealt  bountifully 
with  me  "  (Mahan,  p.  279). 

Paul  of  Samosata  was  Bishop  of  Antioch  (a.d.  262). 
Ambitious  and  frivolous,  fond  of  popular  applause 
and  encouraging  applause  of  preachers,  a  man  of  the 
world,  he  permitted  scandals  in  the  church.  He  intro- 
duced female  singers  into  the  Church  services.  He 
denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and  was  condemned  and 
deposed  by  a  Council  held  in  Antioch  (a.d.  269).  The 
Council  sent  a  general  letter  on  the  subject  to  all  the 
churches.  Eusebius  took  part  in  the  Council.  Paul 
refused  to  submit  to  his  deposition,  and  organized  a 
sect. 

Lucian  the  martyr  (a.d.  283)  was  starved  in  prison 
at  Antioch.  He  was  not  wholly  free  from  the  doctrinal 
errors  of  Paul  of  Samosata. 


THIRD  CENTURY.  23 

Diocletian  became  Emperor  a.d.  284.  Fierce  perse- 
cutions again  broke  out,  about  a.d.  298,  rendering  the 
close  of  the  third  century  eminently  the  ^'  Age  of  Mar- 
tyrs." Peter,  surnamed  "  the  Martyr,"  Bishop  of 
Alexandria,  was  put  to  death.  Eusebius  as  an  eye- 
witness relates  how  the  Christians  were  everywhere 
slaughtered  or  subjected  to  the  most  cruel  tortures. 
In  the  Diocletian  persecution,  the  attempt  was  made  to 
exterminate  the  sacred  Scriptures.  About  285  a.d., 
Diocletian  burned  a  church  with  all  its  worshippers  on 
Christmas  Day.  Alban,  a  noble  Koman  in  Britain, 
protected  a  persecuted  Christian  priest,  by  whom  he 
was  converted.  Alban,  refusing  to  give  him  up,  was 
seized,  confessed  his  faith,  and  suffered  by  the  sword. 
The  Church  in  Britain  is  supposed  to  have  been 
founded  by  Saint  Paul.  In  the  year  180,  the  Bishop 
of  Eome,  Eleutherius,  sent  missionaries  there.  There 
were  three  British  Bishops  at  a  Council  in  Aries  (a.d. 
314),  whose  names  are  preserved.  The  story  of  the 
Theban  legion  is  laid  in  a.d.  286.  Of  over  six  thou- 
sand Christians,  it  lay  encamped  near  the  modern  St. 
Maurice,  in  Switzerland.  Learning  that  the  object  of 
their  march  was  to  join  in  the  persecution,  and  refus- 
ing to  bear  arms  against  their  brethren,  they  were 
twice  decimated.  "  But  this  cruelty  was  unable  to 
shake  the  firmness  of  the  survivors;  and  Maurice,  in 
the  name  of  his  comrades,  declared  to  the  Emperor 
that,  while  ready  to  obey  him  in  all  things  consistent 
with  their  duty  to  God,  they  would  rather  die  than 
violate  that  duty.    The  other  troops  then  closed  around 


24  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

them,  and  the  remnant  of  the  legion  was  martyred  by 
order  of  Maximian." 

!N'ear  the  close  of  the  century,  Meletius,  Bishop  of 
Lycopolis,  in  Egypt,  was  deposed  for  apostasy.  He  or- 
ganized a  sect  that  spread  rapidly  at  first.  The  Mani- 
chean  heresy,  starting  from  Manes,  broke  ont  in  Persia 
(a.d.  270).  It  was  a  sect  professing  a  gross  mixture  of 
heathen  and  Christian  doctrines,  not  unlike  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Gnostics. 

There  were  at  this  period  at  least  one  hundred  Epis- 
copal sees  in  l!^orth  Africa.  As  many  more  were  de- 
pendent upon  the  Patriarchate  of  Alexandria.  Syria 
had  eighty  sees.  At  the  end  of  the  century,  Christian- 
ity extended  throughout  the  Roman  Empire.  Tertul- 
lian,  who  died  in  a.d.  217,  speaks  of  it  as  existing  in 
Britain  and  other  remote  regions. 

Previous  to  the  Diocletian  persecutions,  the  Church 
enjoyed  the  forty  years'  peace,  under  Galienus  (a.d. 
268)  and  Aurelian  (a.d.  275).  'New  and  costly 
churches  were  built  every^^bere.  The  Roman  Empire 
was  now  at  the  zenith  of  its  power.  For  the  life  and 
worship  of  the  early  Church,  we  may  consult  Mahan, 
p.  326  et  altra. 

Corruption  in  the  Church  followed  the  forty  years' 
peace.  The  Emperor  Diocletian,  desiring  rest,  divided 
his  Empire.  One  of  his  associates,  Galerius,  stimulated 
him  to  persecute  the  Church.  This  persecution  raged 
ten  years,  extending  into  the  fourth  century.  Large 
and  costly  churches  were  destroyed,  and  the  greatest 
cruelties  were  inflicted  on  the  Christians.  !N'ine  Bishops 


THIED  CENTURY.  25 

and  thousands  among  their  flocks  were  put  to  cruel 
deaths.  The  tyrant  Galerius  died  by  a  horrible  disease, 
having  first,  in  fear  of  death,  issued  an  edict  of  tolera- 
tion. The  same  was  done  by  Maximin,  another  of  the 
persecuting  associate  Emperors.  He  died  by  poison, 
self-administered  (a.d.  313).  The  martyrdom  of  Saint 
Sebastian  and  Saint  Agnes  took  place  under  Diocle- 
tian. Sebastian  was  a  soldier,  who  concealed  his  Chris- 
tianity to  help  the  martyrs  in  Kome,  and  rose  high  in 
favor  with  the  Emperor.  Condemned  at  length  on  his 
confession,  he  was  pierced  with  arrows  and  left  for 
dead.  Eescued  by  a  Christian  lady,  he  was  restored. 
Condemned  again,  he  was  clubbed  to  death  and  his 
body  flung  into  a  sewer,  where  it  was  discovered  and 
carried  to  the  Catacombs  known  by  his  name  (Ency- 
clop.).  Saint  Agnes,  of  noble  family  and  of  great 
beauty,  of  the  age  of  thirteen,  rejected  many  suitors  to 
devote  herself  to  the  Church.  Refusing  to  sacrifice  to 
the  gods,  she  was  sentenced  to  death  after  infamy.  She 
overawed  every  one  who  approached  her,  save  the  reck- 
less son  of  Simpronius,  and  his  rudeness  was  punished 
with  blindness  and  prostration.  Intercession  by  her 
restored  him.  She  was  then  slain  with  a  spear  (Yan 
Ajitwerp,  Hist.,  I.,  163). 


FOURTH  CENTURY. 

CoNSTANTiNE,  son  of  the  Emperor  Constantius,  was 
desired  by  his  dying  father  to  favour  the  Christians. 
lie  waged  war  against  his  rival,  Maxentius.  Advanc- 
ing against  Rome,  he  prayed  for  Divine  direction,  and 
in  answer  saw  the  sign  of  the  Cross  in  the  heavens  with 
the  motto — 

'Ev  TOVT(0  VL/ca. 

4, 

Eusebius  relates  this,  as  told  him  by  the  Emperor. 
The  following  night,  the  same  sign  was  shown  him  in  a 
dream,  with  the  command  to  bear  it  on  his  banner  in 
war.  This  was  the  Labarum,  surmounted  by  the  Chi 
llho.  Constantine  conquered,  embraced  Christianity 
(a.d.  312),  and  issued  an  edict  of  toleration.  Great 
rejoicing  followed  the  protection  of  the  Christians. 
The  spirit  of  persecution  was  extinguished  suddenly 
and  completely;  yet  no  retaliation  was  sought.  Though 
Constantine  firmly  supported  the  authority  of  the 
Church,  yet  his  character  was  not  unimpeachable.  In 
A.D.  321,  the  edict  of  Constantine  for  the  observance 
of  Sunday  and,  some  say,  of  Friday  was  published. 

The  Donatist  schism  was  brought  about  in  a.d.  311, 
by  a  party  opposed  to  the  election  of  Caecilianus  as 
Bishop  of  Carthage.  They  procured  the  consecration  of 


FOURTH  CENTURY.  27 

their  favourite  by  Donatus  and  other  African  Bishops. 
The  question  was  submitted  to  Constantine.  The  arbi- 
trators appointed  by  him  condemned  the  Donatists 
(a.d.  313).  This  decision  was  sustained  by  the  Council 
at  Aries,  in  Gaul,  where  about  two  hundred  Bishops 
met  in  a.d.  314.  The  Donatists  then  left  the  com- 
munion of  the  Catholics.  They  had,  at  one  time,  it  is 
said,  four  hundred  Bishops.  A  fanatical  sect  of  Dona- 
tists, called  Circumcellions,  from  begging  around  the 
cells  or  cottages  of  the  country  people,  poor  and  igno- 
rant, combining  zeal  with  drunkenness  and  lust,  roamed 
about,  terrorizing  the  country,  claiming  to  be  the 
Lord's  champions,  and  roaring  "  Praises  to  God  !  "' 
At  last  they  rose  in  revolt,  and  were  defeated  in  battle 
and  suppressed. 

A  greater  and  more  lasting  trouble  distinguished 
this  century,  namely  the  heresy  of  Arius.  It  began  in 
A.D.  319.  Arius  was  a  priest  over  one  of  the  principal 
churches  in  Alexandria,  and  a  disappointed  candidate 
(though  some  doubt  this)  for  the  Episcopate  of  that 
see.  He  published  his  heresy  to  oppose  the  Bishop, 
Alexander,  and  maintained  that  Christ  was  less  than 
divine.  Alexander,  in  a  provincial  council  of  one  hun- 
dred Bishops,  deposed  him  in  the  year  321.  Alexander 
was  warmly  supported  by  Athanasius,  then  a  young 
Deacon  of  his  household.  Arius,  being  a  brilliant  man 
and  of  persuasive  eloquence,  organized  a  party,  and  his 
principles  spread  rapidly,  creating  divisions  and  trou- 
bles in  the  Church.  Pride  of  opinion  promoted  popu- 
lar controversy.     Captious  sifting  of  revealed  truth 


28  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

opposed  the  simple  tradition  of  tlie  Cliurcli.  Logic  was 
the  ^^  peculiar  weapon  of  Arius.  His  mind  was  in- 
capable of  any  speculation  which  rose  into  a  higher 
region."  The  mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity  was  to  be 
tried  in  the  alembic  of  human  reason.  His  tendency 
was  towards  philosophic  Atheism.  The  term  "  Cath- 
olic ^'  distinguished  the  old  faith  from  the  new  heresy. 
Arius  withdrew  from  Alexandria,  but  left  many  ad- 
herents. He  had  numerous  friends  in  Syria,  including 
some  Bishops.  Even  Eusebius,  the  historian,  Bishop 
of  Caesarea,  was  favourable  to  him.  Eusebius  was  a 
semi-Arian.  Another  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Nicome- 
dia,  favoured  Arius.  Constantine  in  vain  endeavoured 
to  appease  the  dissensions.  He  sent  Hosius,  a  Bishop  of 
Cordova,  to  mediate,  who  sided  with  the  orthodox. 
The  Emperor  at  length  called  a  General  Council  of  all 
the  Bishops  of  the  Church  to  meet  at  Nicsea,  where  his 
court  was  then  held  (a.d.  325).  Three  hundred  and 
eighteen  Bishops  convened.  The  Council  was  called, 
not  for  disputation  but  to  witness  to  the  Faith  of  the 
Church.  They  came  with  their  attendant  Presbyters 
and  Deacons.  Their  names  and  sketches  of  their  lives 
are  preserved.  Alexander  and  his  deacon,  Athanasius, 
were  prominent.  The  latter  was  powerful  in  debate. 
Constantine  presided  in  person.  A  few  Bishops  openly 
favoured  the  Arian  heresy.  They  admitted  the  Script- 
ures quoted  by  the  Catholics,  but  gave  them  a  private 
interpretation.  Arius  was  allowed  to  defend  his  doc- 
trine. The  general  cry  in  answer  was:  "We  have 
neither  learned  nor  taught  it.''    After  long  discussion. 


FOUETH  CENTURY.  29 

a  Confession,  or  Symbol,  was  resolved  upon.  It  was 
tlie  Mcene  Creed,  nearly  as  we  now  have  it,  save  what 
follows  the  words  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Ac- 
cording to  Eusebius,  Constantine  himself  proposed  the 
term  "  Consubstantial,"  over  which  there  was  great 
disputation  and  objection  by  the  Arian  party.  The 
final  draft  of  the  Creed  was  by  Hosius.  Most  of  the 
Arians  finally  subscribed  it,  two  only  holding  out 
against  the  Catholic  faith,  who,  with  Arius,  were  ban- 
ished by  the  Emperor. 

The  Council,  which  sat  over  two  months,  also  fixed 
the  rule  (as  we  now  have  it)  for  determining  Easter 
Day.  A  decree  on  the  rights  of  Metropolitan  Bishops 
began:  "  Let  the  ancient  customs  prevail,"  TA  AR- 
XAIA  E&H  KPATEirn.  To  ordain  a  Bishop,  the 
consent  of  the  Metropolitan  and  of  a  majority  of  the 
provincial  synod  must  be  given.  Three  prelates  must 
assist  at  such  ordination. 

All  decrees  of  the  Council  were  written  out  and 
signed  and  sent  to  the  principal  sees.  That  sent  to 
Egypt  is  still  extant.  After  the  Council,  the  Emperor 
entertained  the  prelates  in  a  grand  banquet,  Eusebius, 
the  historian,  delivering  an  oration. 

Constantine  built  Constantinople  (a.d.  330)  and  the 
Church  of  St.  Sophia.  Saint  Helena,  his  mother,  went 
to  the  Holy  Land  (a.d.  326),  and  built  churches  at 
Bethlehem  and  elsewhere.  The  Emperor  then  went  to 
Jerusalem,  and  aided  in  removing  the  Mound  of 
Hadrian  from  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  erecting  the 
church  there. 


30  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

Athanasiiis  became  Bishop  of  Alexandria  in  a.d. 
326.  It  is  of  him  that  the  legend  of  the  child  baptized 
on  the  seashore  in  solemn  play  is  related.  Eusebius  and 
others  of  the  Arian  party,  pretending  to  submit  to  the 
Nicene  doctrines,  intrigued  for  the  recall  of  Arius 
from  banishment.  The  Emperor  sent  him  (a.d.  331) 
to  Alexandria,  to  be  received  into  the  communion  of 
the  Church.  Athanasius  stoutly  withstood  him.  The 
Arians,  by  false  charges,  caused  the  deposition  of  some 
of  the  Catholic  Bishops.  Athanasius  was  unjustly  ac- 
cused, but  made  his  case  clear  before  Constantine.  He 
was  nevertheless  deposed  by  an  Arian  Council  (a.d. 
335).  He  appealed  to  Constantine,  who,  wavering, 
finally  decided  not  to  depose  but  to  banish  him.  He 
Avas  sent  into  Gaul,  and  received  with  honour  by  the 
whole  Church.  Arius  pretended  to  subscribe  the  Ni- 
cene  Creed.  He  was  favoured  by  the  Emperor,  who 
ordered  the  venerable  Alexander,  Bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople, then  nearly  one  hundred  years  old,  publicly  to 
receive  the  heretic  and  admit  him  to  communion.  He, 
too,  resisted  the  unjust  decree,  and  prayed  before  the 
altar  for  the  interposition  of  Heaven.  When  Arius, 
with  several  of  his  party,  including  a  Bishop,  was  on 
his  way  to  the  Cathedral  to  enforce  the  order  of  the 
Emperor,  he  was  struck  down  by  a  sudden  illness,  and 
in  a  short  time  died  (a.d.  336). 

Constantine  was  baptized  only  a  short  time  before 
his  death  (a.d.  337).  Arianism  became  a  mixture  of 
Church  and  State  intrigues  among  Constantine's  suc- 
cessors.   The  heretics  were  the  Court  party,  and  were 


FOURTH  CENTURY.  31 

aided  by  the  civil  power.  They  held  numerous  Coun- 
cils, and  framed  various  Creeds,  all  evasive  of  the 
Nicene  expressions.  Commotions  at  Constantinople 
between  rival  Bishops  (a.d.  339)  were  suppressed  only 
by  military  force.  The  Arians  became  split  up  into 
sects  or  schools.  Athanasius,  who,  in  a  respite,  had 
returned  to  his  see,  was  a  second  time  exiled  (a.d. 
341).  The  Arians  procured  the  consecration  of  Greg- 
ory in  his  place,  a  coarse  and  violent  man,  who  perse- 
cuted the  Catholics.  Heresy  increased  at  the  East, 
while  Rome  stood  out  bravely  for  the  Ancient  Faith. 
Athanasius  was  restored  in  a.d.  349,  but  in  356  was 
compelled  by  the  persecution  of  his  enemies,  assisted 
by  the  State  power,  to  fly  into  concealment.  He  was 
protected  by  the  monks  of  Upper  Egypt,  among  whom 
Saint  Anthony,  a  brave  defender  of  the  Catholic  Faith, 
had  just  died.  Fierce  contests  arose  between  the  two 
parties.  The  Arians  at  Antioch  issued  several  forms 
of  the  Creed,  generally  orthodox,  but  evading  the  test 
word  "  homoousios  "  ("  consubstantial  ").  There  was 
an  almost  universal  lapse  into  heresy.  It  was  ^^  Athan- 
asius against  the  world.''  Even  the  aged  Hosius  was 
forced  to  subscribe  a  compromise  Creed.  The  Em- 
peror allowed  Eudoxius,  a  man  of  evil  life,  "  noted  for 
the  coarseness  and  profanity  of  his  ^  atheism,'  "  to  be 
installed  Bishop  of  Constantinople.  The  reaction  be- 
gan. "  The  lapse  of  the  Church,"  "  almost  immedi- 
ately repented  of  and  repudiated,"  proved  the  "  down- 
fall of  the  heresy,  before  which  it  stumbled." 

Julian,  the  Apostate,  became  Emperor  in  a.d.  361. 


32  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

He  had  been  educated  a  Christian,  and  was  even  a  can- 
didate for  the  sacred  ministry.  He  was  admitted  to  the 
order  of  readers.  Among  the  heathen  philosophers  of 
Athens,  he  became  imbued  with  their  Atheistic  no- 
tions, and  apostatized  to  paganism,  which  he  endeav- 
oured to  restore,  with  imposing  rites.  Julian  restored 
to  temporary  importance  the  sect  of  Donatists  in  ISTorth 
Africa,  who,  having  become  turbulent,  had  been  sub- 
dued by  Constans  in  349.  He  endeavoured  to  extirpate 
the  religion  of  the  "  Galileans,^'  as  he  called  the  Chris- 
tians. He  insulted  and  again  banished  Athanasius, 
confiscated  the  property  of  the  Church,  and  in  every 
Yv^ay  annoyed  the  Christians,  although  without  resort- 
ing to  persecutions  as  violent  as  those  of  the  reigns 
before  Constantino.  Arianism  lost  spirit  under  Julian, 
being  deprived  of  imperial  support. 

The  Grove  of  Daphne  at  Antioch  had  been  famous 
in  pagan  times  as  a  paradise  of  beauty  and  a  Sodom  of 
iniquity.  Amid  "  primeval  cypresses,"  "  hills  laurel- 
crowned,"  ^'  secluded  valleys  and  springs,"  "  the  wor- 
ship of  Apollo  had  sanctified  the  frivolity  of  a  pleasure- 
loving  people  and  had  spread  a  mystic  veil  over  scenes 
of  unblushing  voluptuousness  and  audacious  crime. 
On  the  triumph  of  the  Cross,  it  had  been  cleansed,  in 
some  measure,  of  its  abominations,"  and  the  removal  of 
the  remains  of  Saint  Babylas,  the  martyr,  the  twelfth 
Bishop  of  Antioch,  had  been  made  thither.  "  When 
Julian  came  to  Antioch  he  was  mortified  to  find  the  old 
temple  almost  forsaken."  "  The  Christians  were  or- 
dered to  remove  their  relics.    They  obeyed  the  order, 


FOURTH  CENTURY.  33 

but  converted  it  into  a  triumph,  singing  the  Christian 
Psalm,  '  Confounded  be  all  they  that  worship  carved 
images  and  that  delight  in  vain  gods.'  "  In  the  opposi- 
tion to  his  retaliatory  persecutions  we  see  the  failure 
of  his  attempt  to  revive  a  popular  love  of  paganism, 
lie  favoured  the  Jews,  and  made  an  attempt  to  rebuild 
the  Temple  (a.d.  361-3).  The  work  was  supernatur- 
al ly  checked.  He  was  wounded  and  died  in  a  battle 
with  the  Persians  (a.d.  363).  Theodoret  tells  us  his 
last  cry  was  "  Galilsee,  vicisti!  '' 

Jovian  succeeded,  and  reigned  eight  months.  He 
restored  Christianity,  which  was  also  favoured  by  the 
next  Emperor,  Yalentinian  (a.d.  364).  His  brother 
and  associate,  Yalens,  was  a  bitter  Arian,  and  perse- 
cuted the  Catholics.  He  banished  eighty  priests,  and 
destroyed  them  by  burning  their  ship. 

Arianism  brought  a  train  of  minor  sects  and  heresies, 
which  troubled  the  Church  throughout  this  century. 
About  378  A.D.,  they  began  to  doubt  the  Divinity 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  "  The  Creed  of  Saint  Athana- 
sius  ''  has  been  used  in  the  offices  of  the  Church  for  at 
least  one  thousand  years.  Its  authorship  is  uncertain. 
Athanasius  died  a.d.  373. 

Saint  Jerome  was  bom  in  about  the  year  342.  He 
was  a  learned  and  austere  man,  an  ascetic,  and  favoured 
celibacy.  He  was  ordained  priest  at  Antioch  in  378, 
previous  to  which  he  had  retired  into  the  desert  and 
studied  Hebrew.  He  came  to  Eome  in  382  and  studied 
there.  He  went  to  Bethlehem  in  385,  and  remained  in 
the  Monastery  of  the  l^ativity  nearly  forty  years,  until 


34  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

his  death  in  420.  He  wrote  the  Latin  Vulgate,  being 
a  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  and  a  revised  trans- 
lation of  the  [N^ew.  He  engaged  in  controversies,  re- 
lating to  Origen  and  others.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Paula,  a  Roman  matron  of  rank,  who  gave  all  her 
wealth  to  found  monasteries.  She  died  in  404.  He  is 
called  a  Confessor  and  Doctor  of  the  Church.  He 
wrote  against  the  errors  of  Pelagius,  whose  heresy  is 
referred  to  in  the  ninth  of  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles 
as  follows:  '^  Original  sin  standeth  not  in  the  following 
of  Adam  (as  the  Pelagians  do  vainly  talk)."  He  died 
in  420  at  about  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 

Saint  Basil,  Bishop  of  Csesarea,  in  Cappadocia,  and 
Saint  Gregory  Nazianzen  were  champions  of  the  or- 
thodox faith.  Both  were  born  in  the  year  329.  When 
young,  they  had  studied  together  in  Athens,  some  part 
of  the  time  in  company  with  Julian.  They  lived  to- 
gether a  while  in  retirement.  Saint  Basil  founded 
monasteries  and  other  charities,  remarkable  for  their 
order  and  good  regulations.  He  taught  the  monks 
agriculture.  He  was  consecrated  Bishop  in  371.  He 
laboured  for  peace  in  the  Church.  After  the  death  of 
Athanasius,  when  Arianism  gained  even  in  Alexan- 
dria, he  was  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Catholics. 
The  Arian  Emperor  Yalens  wished  to  expel  him  from 
his  see;  but,  Basil  being  firm,  the  Emperor  yielded. 
Basil  died  in  378.  Gregory,  whom  Basil  had  ap- 
pointed to  the  uncongenial  see  of  Sasima,  and  who  had 
since  withdrawn  into  retirement  at  Nazianzus,  was 
called  to  a  little  mission  in  Constantinople,  then  an 


FOURTH  CENTURY.  35 

Arian  city,  where  lie  was  opposed  at  first,  but  was  ul- 
timately successful.  "  By  prayers,''  "  by  untiring 
labours,"  by  eloquence,  by  "  systematized  efforts,"  '^  he 
gathered  about  himself  all  that  was  good  in  Constan- 
tinople, till  there  was  no  place  to  receive  them,"  and 
thus  promoted  the  revival  of  Catholic  truth.  He  built 
the  Church  of  the  Anastasia,  or  "  the  Resurrection 
of  the  true  faith."  This  was  afterwards  enlarged  into 
a  splendid  church.  He  was  aided  by  Theodosius,  who 
became  Emperor  in  379.  Churches  were  restored  to 
the  orthodox. 

The  Second  General  Council  was  held  at  Constanti- 
nople, in  381.  One  hundred  and  fifty  Catholic  Bishops 
were  present.  Gregory  was  enthroned  Bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, but  afterwards  resigned.  The  Council 
completed  the  Mcene  Creed  as  it  now  stands  (except 
the  "  filioque  " — "  and  the  Son  " — which  was  inter- 
polated by  a  local  Council  at  Toledo  in  589).  Among 
the  canons  passed  was  one  by  which  Bishops  were  for- 
bidden to  act  outside  of  their  sees.  The  Western 
Church  was  not  represented  in  this  Council,  but  finally 
acquiesced  in  its  decrees. 

Saint  Martin  (born  316)  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Tours  in  372.  He  was  the  founder  of  Monasticism  in 
the  West.  He  devoted  himself  with  his  monks  to 
converting  the  neglected  peasantry  from  heathenism. 
He  was  tender-hearted  and  forgiving,  and  opposed 
superstition  and  intolerance.  He  was  of  great  influ- 
ence among  the  uncultivated.  ISTumerous  miracles  are 
related  of  him,  the  subsequent  growth  of  a  credulous 
age. 


36  ,  n  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

)•  ^aint  AmlrosCy  then  a  civil  governor,  was  called  by 
the  popular  voice  to  the  vacant  Episcopate  of  Milan 
(a.d.  374),  which  was  contested  by  Catholics  and 
Arians.  While  both  parties  were  on  the  verge  of 
violence,  the  voice  of  a  child  called :  "  Ambrose, 
Bishop,"  and  the  whole  assemblage  took  up  the  cry. 
He  was  of  a  family  of  rank.  He  was  thoroughly  ac- 
quainted with  the  Holy  Scriptures.  He  devoted  him- 
self earnestly  to  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office,  and 
restored  Milan  to  the  ISTicene  faith,  of  which  he  was  a 
stout  defender.  Ambrose  favoured  the  celibate  life, 
and  induced  many,  particularly  young  women,  to  em- 
brace it.  The  Emperor  Valentinian  II.  ordered  him 
to  yield  one  of  the  churches  to  the  Arians.  He  refused 
(a.d.  385),  and  opposed  the  attempt  until  the  Emperor 
yielded.  The  contest  was  renewed  the  next  year,  with 
the  like  result.  During  the  vigils,  while  guarding  the 
church,  he  introduced  the  Eastern  practice  of  anti- 
phonal  singing  by  the  whole  congregation.  In  388 
the  Emperor  Theodosius  came  to  Milan.  Intruding 
into  the  chancel,  he  was  required  by  Ambrose  to  with- 
draw to  a  position  at  the  head  of  the  laity.  In  390, 
Theodosius,  enraged  with  the  people  of  Thessalonica 
for  an  unreasonable  tumult  and  murder  of  officers,  or- 
dered a  slaughter  of  seven  thousand  citizens.  The 
bloody  order  having  been  obeyed,  Ambrose  wrote  a  re- 
proachful letter  to  the  Emperor,  excluding  him  from 
the  services  of  the  Church.  The  Emperor,  attempting 
to  enter  the  church,  was  met  at  the  threshold  and  re- 
pulsed by  the  Bishop.    The  master  of  the  world  yield- 


FOUETH  CENTURY.  37 

ed,  and  was  admitted  to  the  sacred  privilege  only  after 
a  penance  of  eight  months.  Ambrose  died  on  Easter 
Eve,  397. 

In  383,  Theodosius  called  a  conference  of  Catholics 
and  Arians,  to  bring  about  an  agreement  if  possible. 
The  story  of  the  old  Bishop  and  the  Emperor's  son  is 
told  by  Sozomen,  that  the  "  old  and  homely  man, 
Bishop  of  an  inconsiderable  town,  after  having  sa- 
luted Theodosius  with  great  reverence,  turned  to  the 
heir  of  the  Empire,  Arcadius,  who  had  lately  been  de- 
clared Augustus,  stroked  his  head,  and  spoke  to  him, 
as  if  he  were  a  boy  of  ordinary  rank.    The  Emperor, 
indignant  at  this  disrespect,  ordered  that  the  Bishop 
should  be  turned  out;    whereupon  the  old  man  told 
him  that  even  so  would  the  Heavenly  Father  be  of- 
fended with  those  who  refused  to  His  Son  the  honour 
they  pay  to  himself.     Theodosius  saw  the  Bishop's 
meaning  "  and  begged  his  forgiveness,  and  the  Arians 
'•'were  kept  at  a  distance."     During  the  remaining 
years  of  the  reign,  severe  edicts  were  issued  against 
heretics. 

In  385  took  place  the  execution  of  Priscillian  and 
others,  for  heresy,  under  Maximus.  The  act  was 
strongly  condemned  by  Saint  Martin  and  Saint  Am- 
brose. At  this  time  ^'  the  fathers  were  against  punish- 
ing heresy  with  death." 

In  391,  the  Serapeum,  the  Temple  of  Serapis,  in 
Alexandria,  was  destroyed  by  order  of  the  Emperor. 
When  the  enormous  idol,  adorned  with  jewels  and 
overlaid  with  gold  and  silver,  was  struck,  a  swarm  of 


38  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

rats  issued  from  the  head  and  derision  succeeded  con- 
sternation. Paganism  had  been  tolerated  by  the 
(Christian  Emperors,  but,  seeking  recognition  and  priv- 
ileges from  Theodosius,  was  met  and  defeated  by  Am- 
brose. Theodosius  afterward,  in  392,  forbade  heathen 
rites.  The  heathen  religion  gradually  failed,  about 
the  close  of  the  fourth  century,  by  the  withdrawal  of 
public  aid,  a  striking  contrast  to  Christianity,  which, 
on  the  other  hand,  gained  under  persecution. 

Christianity  spread  even  during  the  polemical  trou- 
bles of  the  fourth  century.  It  was  established  in 
Iberia  (between  the  Black  and  Caspian  Seas).  It  was 
also  planted  in  Persia,  where  it  was  persecuted,  and 
tliousands  were  martyred.  Saint  Athanasius  sent  a 
Bishop  into  Abyssinia,  which  had  been  Christianized 
by  captives.  The  story  of  two  youths  spared  from  a 
massacre  gives  the  origin  of  its  conversion.  Early  in 
the  fourth  century,  a  scientific  expedition  to  that  coun- 
try was  returning.  Landing  in  search  of  water,  the 
party  was  attacked,  and  all  but  two  youths  were  slain. 
They  were  advanced  to  office,  and  finally  to  the  re- 
gency. One  then  returned  to  Tyre,  where  he  became 
a  presbyter.  The  other,  who  had  already  introduced 
Christianity,  applied  to  Athanasius  for  a  Bishop,  and 
himself  was  consecrated. 

Monasticism  grew  rapidly  in  the  fourth  century. 
Large  communities  flourished  in  Egypt  and  Syria. 
The  extravagance  of  the  Solitaries  is  seen  in  such  tasks 
as  struggling  to  remove  a  huge  rock,  watering  a  dry 
stick  twice  a  day  from  a  distance  of  two  miles,  overcom- 

P 


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lX  Vt 


FOURTH  CENTURY.  39 

ing  natural  affection,  burning  letters  from  home,  and 
living  like  wild  beasts  in  the  desert,  proceeding  even  to 
self-torture. 

Community  life,  originating  with  Pachomius, 
enjoined  absolute  obedience  to  the  abbot  and  a 
common  ownership.  Manual  labor  was  required 
among  the  Egyptian  monks.  The  salutary  rules  of 
Saint  Basil  required  their  living  in  community,  with  a 
formal  profession  at  entrance,  combining  practical  in- 
dustry with  religious  exercises,  and  missionary  work 
among  the  heathen.  Popular  reverence  for  extreme 
asceticism  caused  many  pretenders.  Assuming  to  at- 
tain perfection,  they  would  feign  madness,  and  show, 
by  absurd  behaviour,  their  contempt  for  the  world. 
Wild  beggars  played  the  part  of  fanatics.  The  most 
curious  extreme  was  shown  in  the  pillar-saints,  or 
Stylites,  about  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century. 
Symeon  Stylites,  the  first  of  these,  dismissed  from  his 
monastery  because  he  bound  himself  so  tightly  and  so 
long  with  a  rope  around  his  body  that  the  blood  was 
forced  out  and  then  refused  to  have  the  wounds 
healed,  withdrew  to  a  place  near  Antioch,  where,  after 
living  ten  years  in  a  narrow  pen,  he  built  a  pillar  and 
dwelt  on  top  of  it,  in  a  space  a  yard  in  diameter.  He 
removed  from  one  pillar  to  another,  always  increasing 
the  height,  until  the  last  of  them  reached  to  forty 
cubits,  about  sixty  feet.  In  this  way  he  lived  thirty- 
seven  years,  offering  up  prayers.  His  neck  was  loaded 
with  an  iron  chain.  In  praying  he  bent  his  body,  with 
the  forehead  almost  to  the  feet,  with  incessant  repeti- 


40  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

tions  of  the  movement.  He  ate  once  a  day  sparingly, 
and  fasted  tlirougli  Lent.  Tempted  once  by  the  devil 
to  ascend  up  to  heaven,  Elijah-like,  he  raised  one  foot 
to  enter  the  chariot,  when,  as  he  made  the  sign  of  the 
cross,  the  tempter  vanished,  leaving  him  with  an  ulcer 
in  his  thigh,  and  ever  after  for  penance  Symeon  sup- 
ported himself  on  one  leg.  He  died  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two.  His  fame  attracted  crowds.  His  body 
was  carried  to  Antioch  to  serve  as  a  defence  in  place  of 
the  wall,  overthrown  by  an  earthquake.  An  imitator, 
Daniel,  near  Constantinople,  lived  thirty-three  years 
from  the  year  461  on  a  similar  pillar,  until  he  died  at 
the  age  of  eighty.  His  feet  were  covered  with  sores 
and  ulcers.  'No  one  knew  how  he  was  fed.  The  winds 
sometimes  stripped  him  of  his  rags  and  almost  blew 
him  off.  Sometimes  he  was  covered  with  ice  and  snow 
until  Leo  built  a  shed  over  him.  He  was  regarded  as 
an  oracle  and  visited  by  kings. 

The  chief  sees  in  the  early  centuries  were  Rome, 
Alexandria,  and  Antioch.  In  the  fourth  century  Con- 
stantinople was  added.  The  rise  of  the  Papal  power 
was  because  of  its  seat  at  the  Capital.  And  chiefly, 
through  Arianism  and  other  divisions  of  the  Christian 
Church,  every  party  courting  the  alliance  of  the  West, 
and  the  Eoman  Bishop  being  the  chief  pastor  in  the 
Western  Church,  there  was  reference  to  Rome  as  arbi- 
trator. Rome  was  steadily  orthodox.  The  jurisdiction 
of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  middle  and  lower  Italy 
and  adjacent  islands. 

Celibacy,  in  the  fourtli  century,  was  voluntary. 


FOURTH  CENTURY  41 

An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  enforce  it  at  tlie 
Council  of  l^ice. 

Churclies  at  first  were  copies  of  Roman  basilicas. 
The  cruciform  plan,  witli  cupola  over  the  intersection, 
arose  in  Constantinople. 

John  (Chrysostom)  was  born  at  Antioch  about  the 
year  347.  He  was  educated  by  a  pious  mother,  An- 
thusa.  He  was  ordained  Deacon  in  381,  and  Priest  in 
386.  He  was  noted  for  his  eloquence.  Selected  by 
the  Emperor  for  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  he  was  con- 
secrated in  398.  He  was  greatly  influential  in  con- 
verting Arians  and  pagans,  reformed  luxury  in  the 
Church,  devoted  his  ovm  income  to  charity,  lived  in 
the  utmost  simplicity,  and  made  enemies  by  attacking 
the  vices  of  the  Court.  Theophilus,  an  unworthy 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  was  jealous  of  Chrysostom,  and 
held  a  Council  of  his  partisans  near  Constantinople, 
which  condemned  him.  The  Emperor  ratified  the 
sentence  and  banished  him,  but  alarmed  by  the  out- 
cries of  the  people  soon  recalled  him  (a.d.  403). 
Again  accused  on  various  pretexts  by  his  en- 
emies, he  was  again  banished  by  the  Emperor  (a.d. 
404),  and  sent  to  the  mountains  near  the  eastern  limit 
of  the  Empire.  Here  he  remained  three  years,  en- 
gaged in  missionary  labors  and  corresponding  with 
the  Church  in  various  lands.  He  was  upheld  by  the 
Bishop  of  Rome.  His  enemies  caused  him  to  be  sent 
to  a  more  secluded  place,  and  on  the  way  he  died  from 
exposure  (a.d.  407)  at  the  age  of  sixty.  His  remains 
were  transferred  to  Constantinople  in  the  year  438. 


FIFTH   CENTURY. 

'^'  Augustine,  born  in  354  in  a  city  of  ISTumidia,  in 
Africa,  was  trained  by  a  devout  mother,  Monica,  and 
thorouglily  educated.  For  a  while  he  embraced  the 
doctrines  of  the  Manichgeans,  and  then  became  a  scep- 
tic. He  resided  a  while  in  Rome,  and  then  went  to 
Milan  as  a  teacher  of  rhetoric.  His  mother  joined  him 
there,  solicitous  for  his  conversion.  Here  he  fell  under 
the  influence  of  Saint  Ambrose.  He  was  led  to  the 
study  of  the  Scriptures,  and  was  baptized  by  Ambrose, 
Easter  Eve,  387.  He  returned  to  Africa,  lived  three 
years  in  retirement,  was  ordained  Priest  in  391,  made 
Bishop  of  Hippo  in  395,  and  held  the  see  for  thirty-five 
years.  He  was  a  voluminous  writer  of  Christian  trea- 
tises. "  De  Civitate  Dei  "  was  his  greatest  work.  He 
held  controversies  with  the  Donatists,  who  had  manv 
Bishops.  This  sect  was  strong,  but  much  divided.  A 
conference  of  Catholics  and  Donatists  was  called  by  the 
Emperor  at  Carthage  in  the  year  411.  About  two 
hundred  and  eighty  Bishops  assembled  on  either  side. 
No  agreement  was  arrived  at.  The  Donatists  were 
condemned  by  the  civil  power,  and  thenceforward  lost 
their  prominence.  Augustine  held  a  controversy  with 
Pelagius,  whose  heresies  relating  to  original  sin  trou- 
bled the  Church.    Pelagius  was  born  in  Britain.    He 


FIFTH    CENTURY.  43 

had  many  adherents;  but  they  were  condemned  by 
synods  in  various  parts  of  the  Church.  Augustine 
taught  predestination  and  election.  He  died  in  the 
year  430,  during  the  siege  of  Hippo  by  the  Vandals. 

In  410,  Eome  was  sacked  by  the  Goths,  who  were 
Arians,  under  Alaric. 

Theodosius  II.  (or  The  Younger),  a  weak  but  just 
prince,  who  reigned  from  408  to  450,  made  war  with 
Persia  to  protect  the  persecuted  Christians  there. 

'Nestor ins,  Bishop  of  Constantinople  in  428,  perse- 
cuted the  heretical  sects.  He  denied  the  title  OeoroKo^ 
(mother  of  God)  to  the  Blessed  Virgin.  Great  contro- 
versy arose  on  this  subject.  Cyril,  Bishop  of  Alexan- 
dria, an  envious  and  severe  man,  but  orthodox,  bitterly 
opposed  him,  and  persuaded  the  Bishop  of  Rome  to 
condemn  him.  Many  Bishops  engaging  in  the  dis- 
putes, Theodosius  called  the  Third  General  Council, 
which  met  at  Ephesus  at  Whitsuntide  in  the  year  431, 
about  two  hundred  Bishops  being  present.  The  Coun- 
cil was  turbulent.  i^Testorius  was  condemned.  The 
sentence  was  ratified  by  the  Emperor,  influenced  by 
Cyril.  ITestorius  was  banished  and  died  in  exile.  His 
opinions,  however,  spread  through  the  East,  particu- 
larly in  Persia. 

In  the  year  448,  Eutyches,  abbot  of  a  large  monas- 
tery near  Constantinople,  was  accused  and  condemned 
of  heresy  in  relation  to  the  two  natures  of  Christ.  In 
449  a  Council  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  Bishops  met 
at  Ephesus,  presided  over  by  Dioscurus,  Bishop  of 
Alexandria,  a  corrupt  and  arbitrary  man.    The  coun- 


44  HISTOKY  OF  THE   CHUECH. 

oil  was  violent  in  its  character.  It  acquitted  Eutyches, 
and  rouglily  condemned  his  opponents.  It  was  called 
the  "  Latrocinium/'  or  Robber  Council. 

The  Fourth  General  Council  was  held  at  Chalcedon 
in  451,  six  hundred  and  thirty  Bishops  being  present. 
Leo  of  Rome  endeavoured  to  have  it  held  in  Italy,  but 
was  overruled.  Dioscurus  was  deposed  and  banished, 
on  account  of  his  heresy  and  of  his  injustice  and  im- 
moralities. The  Council  confirmed  the  Creed  of 
Nicsea,  and  defined  the  Church's  doctrine  in  regard  to 
the  two  natures  of  Our  I^ord.  Canons  were  passed 
regulating  precedence  of  sees.  Leo  (the  Great),  who 
was  present  by  legates,  afterwards  objected  to  these 
canons  as  affecting  the  dignity  of  Rome,  but  was  final- 
ly pacified.  He  held  the  see  from  440  to  461.  He 
laboured  to  increase  its  power,  which  was  much  ad- 
vanced in  this  century.  Claims  of  universal  suprem- 
acy now  began  to  be  made,  which  Africa  stoutly  re- 
sisted. The  Eastern  Church  was  much  weakened  by 
its  dissensions. 

In  452,  Attila,  invading  Italy,  was  induced  to  with- 
draw by  Leo,  who  paid  him  large  sums  of  money.  In 
455,  Rome  was  sacked  by  the  Yandals.  Leo  obtained 
some  grace  for  the  vanquished.  Captives  were  carried 
to  Africa,  where  the  Bishop  of  Carthage  ministered  to 
their  wants. 

There  were  British  Bishops  at  a  Council  in  Aries  in 
the  fourth  century.  Some  doubt  their  having  been  at 
the  Council  of  Mce.  Britain  was  orthodox.  The 
Saxon  invasion  of  the  fifth  century  drove  the  Chris- 


FIFTH  CENTUKY.  45 

tians  into  the  mountains  of  the  West.  The  conversion 
of  Ireland  was  accomplished  during  the  first  half 
of  the  fifth  century,  by  Patrick.  He  had  been  car- 
ried captive  to  Ireland  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  re- 
leased after  six  years  (a.d.  431).  He  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  the  Irish,  and  returned  to  Ireland  and 
laboured  among  the  heathen  with  great  success  until  his 
death  in  493. 

Saint  Severin  laboured  to  preserve  the  Faith  in 
Southern  Germany  (454-482).  He  declined  the  Epis- 
copate. 

In  4  57,  the  Emperor  Leo  was  crowned  by  a  Patri- 
arch, the  first  instance  of  such  solemnity.  He  obtained 
by  correspondence  (without  the  inconvenience  of  a 
Council)  a  general  expression  of  the  provincial  Bish- 
ops in  favour  of  the  decisions  of  the  Council  of  Chalce- 
don,  which  were  disputed  in  Alexandria. 

In  484,  Eelix  III.  of  Kome,  in  a  dispute  over  rival 
candidates  for  the  see  of  Alexandria,  undertook  to 
anathematize  and  depose  Acacius,  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople. A  schism  between  the  East  and  West 
followed  for  thirty-five  years,  until  519. 

In  493,  the  Goths  became  masters  of  Italy. 

In  496,  Clovis,  the  founder  of  the  French  mon- 
archy, was  converted  to  the  orthodox  Christian  faith. 
His  Queen,  Clotilda,  was  a  Christian. 

The  Yandals,  who  were  Arians,  invaded  Africa,  and 
cruelly  oppressed  the  Catholics  in  the  last  half  of  the 
fifth  century.  Many  Bishops  were  banished,  and 
Arianism  was  forced  upon  the  people.  This  rule  ended 
in  534. 


SIXTH   CENTURY. 

In  512,  riot  broke  out  in  Constantinople  from  an 
attempted  addition  to  the  Trisagion.  More  than  fifty 
years  before  this,  the  story  arose  that,  during  prayer 
on  account  of  an  earthquake,  a  child  was  miraculously 
caught  up  and  heard  the  heavenly  host  singing,  ^'  Holy 
God,  Holy  Mighty  One,  Holy  Immortal,"  to  which 
form  Peter,  the  Fuller,  a  Monophysite  (maintaining 
one  nature  only  in  Christ),  added  the  words  ^'  Who 
was  crucified  for  us."  The  attempt  to  introduce  these 
additions  in  512  caused  a  tumult.  Processions  singing 
one  form  met  bands  singing  the  other,  and  the  parties 
fell  to  blows.  A  monk's  head  stuck  on  a  pole  was 
paraded  about  as  that  of  an  enemy  to  the  Trinity. 
Houses  were  destroyed.  The  Emperor  was  almost 
forced  to  abdicate. 

In  525,  the  Emperor  Theodoric,  an  Arian,  sent 
John,  Bishop  of  Rome,  to  Constantinople  to  obtain 
from  the  Emperor  Justin  toleration  for  Arians.  John 
was  received  with  great  honours. 

In  the  period  between  533  and  540,  the  Yandals, 
enervated  by  luxury,  were  conquered  in  Africa  by 
Belisarius,  and  with  their  extermination,  Arianism, 
which  they  professed,  was  extinguished  there. 

In  554,  the  Gothic  monarchy  in  Italy  was  over- 


SIXTH  CENTURY.  47 

thrown,  and  with  it  Arianism  disappeared  from  that 
country  for  a  time. 

The  Emperor  Justinian,  in  544,  dedicated  Saint 
Sophia,  which  had  been  burned  after  its  original  con- 
struction by  Constantine.  The  dome  of  the  church 
was  afterwards  injured  by  an  earthquake,  and  he  re- 
paired and  rededicated  it  in  562.  Justinian  troubled 
the  Church  by  edicts  against  old  errors,  condemning 
writings  a  century  old  and  reopening  settled  questions. 
To  determine  them  the  Fifth  General  Council  met  at 
Constantinople,  under  Justinian,  in  553.  One  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  Bishops  attended.  The  "  Three 
Articles  "  were  condemned.  They  were  certain  treat- 
ises written  by  writers  suspected  of  ISTestorianism. 
Pope  Yigilius,  who  was  detained  in  the  East,  refused 
to  be  present,  but  afterwards  gave  his  consent  to  the 
decrees. 

In  551,  tumults  and  bloodshed  took  place  in  Alex- 
andria between  the  rival  sects  of  Monophysites. 
Agreeing  as  to  one  nature  in  the  Divine  Christ,  they 
quarrelled  on  the  question  whether  our  Lord's  body 
were  incorruptible,  the  same  before  as  after  the  Eesur- 
rection,  as  maintained  by  the  Aphthardocetae,  or  cor- 
ruptible as  held  by  the  Phthartolatrae,  "  the  worship- 
pers of  the  corruptible."  The  Eastern  Bishops  for  the 
most  part  professed  "  that  in  all  blameless  affections 
the  Saviour's  body  was  like  to  ours."  A  great  part  of 
the  city  was  burned  down.  Such  dissensions  induced 
the  decline  of  the  Egyptian  Church,  which  was  largely 
Monophysite.     Thenceforth  it  became  Coptic  (Egyp- 


48  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

tian),  leaning  to  divers  heresies  and  alienated  from  the 
rest  of  tlie  Cliiircli.  In  like  manner,  the  Syrian 
churches  were  disturbed  by  differences  on  minor 
points  relating  to  the  Incarnation,  and  were  alienated 
from  the  Greek  and  Western  Churches.  The  liturgies 
in  these  times  of  discord  were  the  great  conservative 
element. 

ISTestorian  Christianity  was  established  in  Persia  in 
the  sixth  century.  Persian  missionaries  were  sent  into 
various  parts  of  Asia,  even  into  China.  A  E'estorian 
monk,  in  his  travels,  in  522  found  Bishops  and  clergy 
of  his  sect  in  India. 

Saint  Benedict,  in  Italy,  lived  from  480  to  543.  At 
the  age  of  fourteen,  he  took  refuge  in  a  cave  and  spent 
three  years  in  retirement.  He  was  elected  abbot  of  a 
monastery,  but  gained  the  ill-will  of  the  monks,  by  his 
efforts  to  reform  them.  Wlien  they  attempted  to 
poison  him,  he  left  them.  He  built  the  monastery  of 
Monte  Cassino,  on  the  site  of  a  heathen  temple.  In 
529,  he  established  the  "  Benedictine  Rule,"  a  wise 
regulation  for  the  monks,  which  was  extensively 
adopted.  He  prescribed  manual  labour,  the  order  of 
ser^sdces,  etc.,  temperance  in  living,  obedience  to  su- 
periors. In  later  ages,  the  Benedictine  cloisters  were 
great  conservators  of  learning. 

In  563,  the  Lombards  conquered  l^orthern  Italy, 
bringing  back  Arianism,  which,  at  the  same  time,  de- 
clined in  Spain. 

In  563,  Saint  Cohimha,  an  Irish  abbot,  went  to 
Scotland,  and  laboured  as  a  missionary  until  his  death 


SIXTH  CENTURY.  49 

in  597.  He  established  a  famous  monastery  and  school 
in  the  island  of  lona. 

The  power  of  Rome  increased  in  the  fifth  and  sixth 
centuries.  This  resulted  from  its  increase  in  wealth, 
from  its  steady  orthodoxy,  making  it  an  arbiter  while 
the  East  was  distracted  by  dissensions,  and  from  the 
overweening  ambition  of  its  Patriarchs.  The  title  of 
Pope  was  not  exclusively  given  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
at  this  time. 

During  the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  corruptions 
in  living  crept  into  the  Church  of  the  West.  Celibacy 
of  the  clergy  grew  in  favour.  It  was  not  absolutely  en- 
joined, except  locally,  in  some  synods.  Saint-worship 
and  reverence  of  images  began  to  be  introduced,  as 
well  as  the  worship  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  (perhaps  a 
reaction  from  J^estorianism),  and  many  other  super- 
stitions. The  later  corruptions  of  the  Roman  Church 
in  regard  to  the  Lord's  Supper  had  not  yet  been  gener- 
ally introduced.  Chrysostom,  during  exile,  had  de- 
clared in  his  writings  against  such  doctrines.  Pope 
Gelasius  (about  492)  condemned  communion  in  one 
kind. 

Learning  declined  from  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century. 

In  589,  an  Irish  monk,  Columban  (born  560),  went 
into  Gaul  and  founded  monasteries  in  regions  where 
the  ancient  Christianity  had  decayed.  He  established 
strict  rules,  e.g.,  the  entire  mortification  of  the  indi- 
vidual will  and  corporal  chastisement.  He  went  also 
on  a  mission  into  Switzerland.    He  died  in  615. 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Gregory  the  Great  was  born  in  540,  of  a  family  of 
rank  and  wealth.  He  gave  all  to  found  monasteries. 
He  gave  his  family  mansion  at  Rome  for  a  monastery, 
where  he  lived  and  practised  great  austerities.  With 
great  reluctance  to  receive  the  office,  he  was  conse- 
crated Pope  in  590.  The  age  was  one  of  great  depres- 
sion in  Church  and  State.  The  Lombard  invasion 
wasted  the  land.  Their  destruction  of  churches  and 
monasteries  produced  a  general  decay  of  morals  and 
discipline.  Gregory  laboured  for  the  interest  of  re- 
ligion. Some  eight  hundred  and  fifty  of  his  letters  are 
preserved.  He  regulated  the  services  and  music  of  the 
Church.  His  Sacramentary  reduced  into  one  volume 
the  sacramental  rites  of  the  Church,  including  the 
Liturgy,  to  which  it  gave  substantially  the  form  since 
observed.  In  it  he  embodied  the  collects  of  the  An- 
cient Church,  improving  old  and  adding  new  ones. 
He  introduced  the  Gregorian  Tones.  His  simplicity 
of  living  was  monastic.  With  the  wealth  of  his  see 
at  his  command,  he  extended  his  charities  systemat- 
ically. He  widened  the  papal  power,  but  was  remark- 
ably free  from  personal  ambition.  He  treated  the 
Eastern  Patriarchs  as  independent  and  equals.  In 
594,  he  wrote  to  the  other  Patriarchs,  objecting  to  the 
title  "  oecumenical ''  assumed  by  the  Bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople. He  claimed  that  none  of  them  should  call 
himself  "  Universal  Pope."  He  was  successful  in 
bringing  back  separatists  to  the  Church.  His  tolera- 
tion extended  in  general  to  those  not  members  of  the 
Church.    He  protected  the  Jews  in  their  religion. 


SIXTH  CENTURY.  51 

British  Cliristianity  had  been  almost  extinguished 
by  the  Saxon  invaders.    The  story  of  Gregory  and  the 
Anglo-Saxon  captives  is  laid  in  the  period  before  his 
consecration.      Seeing  some  comely  youths  exposed 
for  sale  in  the  Forum,  he  was  told  they  were  "  An- 
gles."    "  In  truth,  they  have  angelic  countenances,'^ 
he  answered,  "  and  it  is  a  pity  they  should  not  be  co- 
heirs with  angels  in  heaven.    What  is  the  province,'' 
he  asked,  "  whence  they  come?  "     ''  Deira,"  was  the 
reply,  that  is,  l^orthumberland.     "  It  is  well,"  said 
he.     "  De  ir^,  snatched  from  the  wrath  of  God  and 
called  to  the  mercy  of  Christ.     What  is  the  name  of 
their  King?  "    "  Ella."    "  Alleluia  should  be  sung  to 
God  in  those  regions."     He  offered  himself  to  go  to 
them  as  missionary;    but  not  until  he  was  Pope  and 
Ethelbert's  marriage  with  the  Christian  princess  Ber- 
tha opened  a  way  for  missionary  work  in  England, 
could  he  carry  out  his  wishes,  and  then  Gregory  sent 
Augustine  and  forty  other  monks  there  in  597.    They 
entered  Canterbury,  where  they  found  already  built  a 
church  of  the  Eoman-British  period,   dedicated  to 
Saint  Martin.     There  they  worshipped.     The  King 
was  baptized,  and  great  numbers  were  converted.    Au- 
gustine was  consecrated  the  first  Bishop  of  Canter-' 
bury.     Liberal  instructions  were  given  him  by  the 
Pope,  desiring  him  "  to  select  from  the  usages  of  any 
churches  such  ^  right,  religious  and  pious '  things  as 
might  seem  suitable  for  the  new  Church  of  England, 
^  for  we  must  not  love  things  on  account  of  places,  but 
places  on  account  of  things.'  "     In  603,  conference 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

was  held  with  a  number  of  British  Bishops.  Augustine 
wished  them  to  adopt  the  Roman  rule  for  Easter,  and 
would  permit  them  otherwise  to  retain  their  own  cere- 
monies and  customs.    They  disagreed. 

Gregory  left  several  important  treatises.  He  con- 
demned image  worship.    He  died  in  604. 

The  end  of  the  sixth  century  divides  early  and 
mediaeval  Church  History. 


SEVENTH  CENTURY. 

Jerusalem  was  ravaged  by  tlie  Persians  about  the 
year  611.  Ninety  tlioiisand  Christians  were  slain. 
Cburcbes  were  destroyed.  The  Patriarch  was  carried 
off  into  Persia,  with  the  relic  venerated  as  the  true 
Cross.  In  615,  the  Emperor  Heraclius  defeated  the 
Persians,  and  restored  the  Cross  to  Jerusalem.  ''  The 
event  was  commemorated  by  a  new  festival/'  the 
Feast  of  the  "  Exaltation  "  of  the  Cross. 

MaJiomet  was  born  at  Mecca  in  or  about  the  year 
570.  His  visionary  character  showed  itself  in  a  tem- 
per "  naturally  mystical  and  enthusiastic.  He  was 
subject  to  fits  and  melancholy.  In  lonely  meditation 
in  a  cave,  he  was  excited  to  declare  himself  a  revelator. 
Perhaps  he  was  self -deceived.  The  Koran  is  taken 
partly  from  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures.  It 
insists  on  the  unity  of  the  Godhead.  Mahomet  ad- 
mitted the  Messiah  as  a  prophet,  but  inferior  to  him- 
self. He  inculcated  austere  virtues  and  limited 
polygamy.  Persecuted  by  the  Arabs,  he  fled  to  Me- 
dina in  622,  being  "the  Hegira,"  or  flight,  and 
there  his  power  increased.  He  propagated  his  faith 
by  the  sword,  and  in  630  took  Mecca.  His  promises 
to  his  warriors  included  not  only  rapine  and  lust,  but 
the  assurance  of  bliss  in  a  sensual  paradise.    "Wonder- 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ful  successes  crowned  their  enthusiasm.  Mahomet 
died  in  632,  but  Syria  and  Egypt  were  subdued  by  his 
successors.  Jerusalem  fell  in  637,  and  the  Mosque  of 
Omar  was  built  on  the  site  of  the  Temple.  Then  Per- 
sia and  Asia  Minor  were  conquered.  Carthage  and 
North  Africa  were  subdued  in  698. 

A  wide  discussion  arose,  about  616,  on  the  subject 
of  "  Monothelism,"  or  one  will  in  Christ.  East  and 
West  were  opposed  on  the  doctrine.  In  order  to  avert 
a  rupture  with  the  Monophysites,  which  would  be 
politically  disastrous,  the  Emperor  favoured  the  belief 
in  the  "  one  will.''  One  side — the  Monothelite — as- 
serted that  "  as  the  Saviour's  person  is  one.  He  could 
have  but  one  will."  The  other  answered:  "  As  He  is 
both  God  and  man,  each  of  his  own  natures  must  have 
its  proper  will."  In  649,  Pope  Martin  held  the  First 
Lateran  Council,  in  which  the  Monothelite  doctrine 
was  condemned,  and  those  who  held  it  severely  anath- 
ematized. Among  them  were  Paul  of  Constantinople 
and  many  others.  The  civil  authority  being  offended 
by  this  open  contempt  of  the  imperial  position,  Pope 
Martin  was  imprisoned,  cruelly  treated,  and  died  in 
exile. 

The  dissensions  increasing,  Constantino  TV.  called 
the  Sixth  General  Council,  which  met  at  Constanti- 
nople (a.d.  680),  nearly  two  hundred  Bishops  attend- 
ing. This  Council  was  remarkable  for  its  quiet  and 
dignity.  The  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  was  in 
agreement  with  Rome  against  the.  doctrine  of  only  one 
will  in  Christ.    The  attempted  miracle  of  a  Monothe- 


SEVENTH  CENTUEY.  55 

lite  monk  is  curious.  He  undertook  to  prove  tlie  truth 
of  his  cause  by  raising  a  dead  man  to  life.  He  claimed 
to  have  seen  in  a  vision  a  "  person  of  dazzling  bright- 
ness and  terrible  majesty,"  who  told  him  "  that  wlioso- 
ever  did  not  confess  a  single  will  and  theandric  opera- 
tion was  not  to  be  acknowledged  as  a  Christian."  A 
corpse  was  then  brought  in.  "  Polychronius  laid  his 
creed  on  the  dead  man's  breast,  and  for  a  long  time 
whispered  in  his  ears;  no  miracle,  however,  followed." 
Persisting  in  his  confidence,  the  old  monk  was  deposed 
amid  shouts  of  anathema.  Monothelism  was  con- 
demned, and  among  others  Honorius,  a  former  Pope, 
who  had  died  in  638,  and  held  the  doctrine,  was  an- 
athematized. Popes  did  not  then  claim  to  be  infallible. 
Leo  II.  and  his  successors  for  a  thousand  years  ac- 
cepted and  repeated  this  anathema.  The  next  Em- 
peror, Justinian  II.,  called  a  synod,  which  passed 
many  canons,  some  of  them  displeasing  to  Pome.  This 
alienated  the  Western  Church. 

A  usurping  Emperor,  in  711,  was  a  Monothelite, 
and  favoured  the  heretics.  He  imposed  the  doctrine 
on  the  Eastern  Church,  which  easily  submitted,  but 
the  Western  resisted.  Catholicism  was  restored  in  the 
East  in  Y13.  Thenceforth  the  condemned  heresy  was 
supported  only  by  the  community  called  the  Maron- 
ites,  in  Syria.  They  afterwards  conformed  to  the 
Latin  Church  in  1182,  at  the  time  of  the  Crusades. 

In  spite  of  Gregory's  disavowal  of  supremacy,  in 
594,  it  was  assumed  by  Pope  Agatho  at  the  time  of 
the  Sixth  General  Council  (about  G80),  and  thencefor- 


56  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ward  by  his  successors.  The  Emperors  in  the  East, 
occupied  with  the  Saracen  invasions,  left  more  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  Popes,  who  now  began  to  act  like 
princes.  The  Spanish  Church,  after  its  reformation 
from  Arianism  (cwc.  570),  was  independent  of  Home. 
After  the  Mahometan  conquest  (710)  of  Spain,  the 
Christians  there,  in  their  distress,  sought  a  closer  alli- 
ance with  Rome. 

The  Church  in  France  was  also  independent  during 
the  seventh  century.  It  grew  corrupt,  however,  and 
wealthy,  mingling  in  political  affairs,  its  wealth  invit- 
ing unworthy  persons  into  the  ministry. 

In  England,  the  Ancient  and  the  Roman  clergy, 
though  differing  in  ceremonies,  united  in  converting 
the  Anglo-Saxons.  Paulinus  I.,  Archbishop  of  York, 
withdrew  from  his  see  in  633,  and  the  Kingdom  of 
York  relapsed  into  heathenism.  Oswald,  a  Christian, 
became  King  in  635.  He  invited  a  Bishop  from  lona, 
in  Scotland,  a  stern  man,  who  remained  but  a  short 
time  and  retired  discouraged  with  their  obstinacy. 
The  Fathers  of  lona  then  caused  the  gentle  and  pa- 
tient Aidan,  one  of  their  number,  to  be  chosen  and 
consecrated  Bishop.  He  came  to  Oswald,  who  aided 
him  in  his  missionary  labours.  A  monastery  similar  to 
lona  was  established  in  the  island  of  Lindisfarne. 
Many  of  the  clergy  came  down  from  Scotland  to  join 
in  the  work.  The  high  character  of  the  Bishop  and 
clergy,  "  their  zeal,  gentleness,  humility  and  sim- 
plicity, study  of  Scripture,  freedom  from  selfishness 
and  avarice,  boldness  in  dealing  with  the  great,  tender- 


SEVENTH  CENTUEY.  57 

ness  and  charity  toward  the  poor,  their  strict  and  self- 
denying  life  "  obtained  the  reverence  of  the  people. 
Their  great  success  in  evangelizing  a  large  part  of 
England  followed. 

Collisions  with  the  Roman  clergy,  chiefly  in  regard 
to  the  date  of  Easter,  were  inevitable.  A  conference 
was  held.  The  King  decided  for  the  Romans,  on  the 
ground  that  to  Saint  Peter  were  given  the  "  Keys  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 

In  668,  Theodore,  a  native  of  Asia  Minor,  was  con- 
secrated Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  churches  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Kingdoms  were  united  under  him. 
He  established  schools,  and  cultivated  the  arts.  Wil- 
frid, Bishop  of  !N'orthumbria,  having  fallen  under  his 
and  the  King's  displeasure,  Theodore  superseded  him, 
divided  his  diocese  and  appointed  new  Bishops  for  the 
sees.  Wilfrid  went  to  Rome  for  redress.  He  was  sus- 
tained by  the  Pope,  and  sent  back  to  England,  but 
was  imprisoned  by  King  Egfrid,  of  N^orthumbria,  who 
resisted  the  Papal  decrees. 

Disputes  as  to  the  time  of  Easter  ceased  in  the 
eighth  century,  the  British  Church  conforming  to  the 
general  usage. 

During  the  seventh  century,  large  stone  churches 
were  built  and  monasteries  endowed,  some  of  which 
became  corrupt. 

The  Venerable  Bede  lived  from  6Y3  to  734.  He 
spent  his  whole  life  in  the  Abbey  of  Wearmouth.  He 
was  distinguished  for  his  labours  in  the  department  of 
Church  History  and  of  general  literature. 


68  HISTORY  OF  THE  OHUEOH. 

In  the  seventh  century,  missionaries  from  France, 
Britain,  and  Ireland  laboured  among  tlie  heathen  Ger- 
manic tribes.  An  Irish  Bishop,  Kilian,  was  murdered. 
Amandus,  a  Frenchman,  retired  in  discouragement. 
Eligius  was  long  noted  for  his  sanctity  and  charity. 
Many  were  martyrs. 


EIGHTH    CENTUKY. 

The  veneration  of  pictures  and  images  having  be- 
come excessive,  the  Emperor  Leo  HI.,  the  Isaurian, 
undertook  a  forcible  reformation.     In  724,  he  issued 
an  edict  against  images.    It  roused  the  popular  indig- 
nation.    Germanus,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  de- 
fending them,  resigned  his  see  (Y30).     The  clergy 
were  roused,  and  the  Emperor  shut  up  the  schools.    A 
famous  champion  of  images  was  John  of  Damascus, 
who  afterwards  became  a  monk  of  the  monastery  of 
Saint  Sabbas.     Pope  Gregory  II.  rejected  the  edict, 
and  took  high  ground  against  the  Emperor,  who  was 
politically  weak  in  Italy.     Disturbances  arose.     Ex- 
archs were  expelled  or  killed.     Leo  could  only  confis- 
cate some  of  the  Pope's  revenues.    He  was  succeeded 
in  741  by  his  son  Constantino  Y.  (Copronymus),  an 
able  and  cruel  Emperor.     He  wished  to  assemble  a 
General  Council  in  754,  but  gathered  only  the  local 
Bishops,  without  any  of  the  Patriarchs.    They  were  all 
in  his  interest,  and  denounced  the  use  of  pictures  and 
images,  requiring  that  all  such  should  be  removed. 
They  anathematized  religious  art.  The  Emperor  issued 
decrees  to  that  effect,  and  rigidly  enforced  them.    He 
Avas  resisted  by  the  monks,  who  were  cruelly  perse- 
cuted.   Monasteries  were  destroyed,  and  their  inmates 


60  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

insulted  and  sometimes  put  to  death.  The  Patriarch 
Constantine  was  tortured  and  murdered.  The  Em- 
peror died  in  775. 

Saint  Boniface,  Apostle  of  Germany,  originally 
named  Winfrid,  was  born  in  Devonshire  about  680,  of 
a  rich  and  noble  family.  Early  imbued  with  the  mis- 
sionary spirit,  he  went  in  716  to  Frisia;  but  political 
disorders  compelled  him  to  return.  He  declined  the 
office  of  Abbot  of  his  monastery.  Assisted  by  Daniel, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  he  went  to  Rome  in  717.  The 
Pope  sent  him  with  authority  to  Germany.  Among 
the  wild  tribes  he  made  many  thousand  converts.  The 
Pope  recalled  him  and  consecrated  him  Bishop.  He 
returned  to  Germany  with  letters  to  Charles  Martel 
(who  in  732,  by  his  victory  at  Poitiers,  drove  back  the 
Saracens  from  France).  Charles  received  him  coldly, 
but  allowed  him  to  labour  beyond  the  Rhine.  He  was 
troubled  by  irregular  missionaries  from  France  and 
Ireland.  He  cut  down  the  sacred  oak  of  the  Hessians, 
and  with  it  erected  a  chapel.  He  met  with  rapid  suc- 
cess. He  was  made  Archbishop,  and  established 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  organized  dioceses.  He 
founded  the  Abbey  of  Fulda  in  742,  under  a  rigid 
rule.  Here  he  intended  to  remain  and  be  buried;  but 
after  his  seventieth  year  he  went  out  again  as  a  mis- 
sionary Bishop  among  the  pagans  of  Frisia  (Holland). 
He  baptized  many  converts,  but  was  set  upon  and  mas- 
sacred, with  all  his  companions,  in  755.  His  body  was 
taken  to  Fulda.  ISTotwithstanding  his  zeal  for  the 
Papal  See,  he  remonstrated  with  the  Roman  Church 


EIGHTH  CENTURY.  61 

for  some  errors  in  its  teaching  and  practice.  In  740, 
Pope  Gregory  III.  urged  Charles  Martel  to  send  him 
aid  against  the  Lombards,  who  threatened  Rome.  In 
754,  Pope  Stephen  applied  personally  to  Pipin,  King 
of  the  Prankish  nation,  who  sent  relief.  The  Papacy 
became  independent  of  the  Eastern  Emperors. 

Charlemagne,  son  of  Pipin,  overthrew  the  Lom- 
bard dominion  in  773,  and  became  master  of  Italy. 
In  800,  he  was  crowned  Emperor  of  the  Franks  by  Leo 
III.  (at  Saint  Peter's).  His  noble  character  was  in 
general  "  mild,  open  and  generous."  He  subdued  the 
Saxons  (785),  who  were  afterwards  Christianized. 
Revival  of  learning  took  place  under  Charlemagne. 
He  invited  Alcuin  from  England  to  teach  the  royal 
school,  and  provided  also  for  popular  education.  His 
care  provided  for  multiplying  correct  copies  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  also  for  the  Ritual  of  the  Church. 
The  hymn,  "  Yeni,  Creator,''  has  been  attributed  to 
him.  He  paid  great  deference  to  the  Popes,  but  re- 
tained the  political  power  for  himself. 

On  the  death  of  Copronymus,  in  775,  his  wife  Irene 
reigned.  She  opposed  the  Iconoclasts,  and  procured  a 
Council  to  be  summoned,  which  met  at  ISTicsea  in  786. 
The  only  Patriarch  there  was  Tarasius  of  Constanti- 
nople. Bishops  of  opposite  views  were  not  in^dted. 
The  Pope  sent  delegates.  The  views  of  Constantino'.^ 
Iconoclastic  Council  were  denounced.  Declarations 
were  set  forth  in  favour  of  reverence  of  images.  The 
"  images  "  were  paintings  and  mosaics,  not  sculptures. 
There  were  then  no  representations  of  the  Trinity. 


62  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Irene  was  a  woman  of  detestable  character,  who 
caused  her  own  son  to  be  dethroned.  Commotions  be- 
tween the  parties  favouring  and  denouncing  images 
continued. 

The  decrees  of  the  Second  Council  of  Mcsea  were 
sent  to  Charlemagne,  who,  with  Bishop  Alcuin  and 
the  English  Bishops,  opposed  them  and  issued  a  treat- 
ise against  them,  called  the  ''  Caroline  Books,''  full  of 
wise  and  temperate  reasoning.  A  Council  at  Frank- 
fort, in  794,  set  forth  the  same  views  against  image- 
worship,  in  opposition  to  Home  and  to  the  Eastern 
Church.  The  heresy  of  "  Adoptionism  ''  appeared  in 
Spain  in  783,  in  reference  to  the  incarnation  of  Christ. 
It  asserted  that  our  Lord's  humanity  was  adopted  to 
Divine  Sonship.  The  "  Eilioque  "  had  been  added  to 
the  Creed  at  the  Third  Council  of  Toledo,  in  589.  In 
809,  a  synod  in  Aix  approved  the  addition,  but  the 
Pope,  Leo  III.,  though  agreeing  with  the  doctrine,  op- 
posed its  insertion  into  the  Creed. 

The  heresy  of  Paulicianism  flourished  from  653  to 
871,  chiefly  near  the  Euphrates.  A  sect  was  formed 
without  a  regular  ministry,  but  with  many  doctrines 
derived  from  Christianity.  They  were  persecuted  by 
the  Catholics.  Becoming  political  enemies,  they  were 
finally  conquered  by  the  Emperor  Basil.  In  the 
eighth  or  ninth  century,  a  forgery  appeared,  which  as- 
serted a  donation  of  civil  authority  to  the  Popes  from 
Constantino  I. 

Organs  were  used  in  Church  service  about  660. 
One  was  erected  in  Winchester  Cathedral  in  the  tenth 


EIGHTH  CENTURY.  63 

century,  whicli  required  seventy  men  to  blow  it.  Bells 
were  introduced  by  Sabinian,  the  successor  of  Saint 
Gregory  (604-6).  Their  baptism  was  forbidden  in  789. 
Great  strictness  was  enforced  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  centuries,  in  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day, 
which  was  honoured,  not  as  the  Sabbath,  but  as  a  Chris- 
tian festival.  The  growth  of  superstition  showed  itself 
in  the  adoration  of  saints,  in  the  passion  for  relics,  in 
pilgrimages  to  Rome,  to  the  Holy  Land  or  to  shrines, 
in  penances,  and  in  ordeals  to  decide  questions  by  com- 
bats and  like  tests. 


NINTH   CENTURY. 

Charlemagne  died  in  814.  He  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Louis,  the  Pious,  an  amiable  but  rather  weak 
prince.  Louis  crowned  himself  from  the  altar.  The 
Pope  objected,  and  on  assuming  some  princely  func- 
tion was  reproved  by  the  Emperor.  Reconciliation 
followed  the  Pope's  apology. 

Louis  made  reforms  in  Church  and  State.  He  re- 
stored property  alienated  from  the  Church,  and 
checked  pomp  in  the  clergy.  In  823,  Lothair  was  ap- 
pointed to  succeed  his  father,  Louis.  He  was  crowned 
both  by  the  Emperor  and  by  the  Pope.  Louis  checked 
the  pretensions  of  the  latter,  and  corrected  some  abuses 
of  the  Papal  administration.  He  reserved  to  himself 
the  choice  of  the  Pope  in  contested  elections.  His  sons 
rebelled  against  him,  and  he  was  deposed  for  a  third 
time,  but  was  restored.    He  died  in  840. 

Leo  Y.,  the  Emperor  in  the  East,  in  813,  renewed 
the  Iconoclastic  troubles,  taking  part  against  images. 
He  was  opposed  by  a  priest,  Theodore,  the  Studite. 
Conferences  and  controversies  arose  between  them. 
Nicephorus,  the  Patriarch,  was  deprived,  and  an  un- 
worthy successor  appointed.  Theodore,  being  defiant 
and  irrepressible,  was  banished  and  cruelly  treated. 
Harsh  measures  were  used  by  the  Emperor's  party 


NINTH  CENTURY.  65 

against  their  opponents.  Michael,  the  Stammerer,  a 
general  of  Leo,  a  coarse,  illiterate  man,  excited  a  con- 
spiracy in  which  the  Emperor  was  murdered  in  chapel 
on  Christmas  Day,  820.  Michael  was  crowned  Em- 
peror, with  the  exultation  of  Theodore.  The  new 
Emperor  refused  to  decide  between  the  parties,  and 
tolerated  them  both.  Theodore  became  violent  again, 
was  banished,  and  died  in  exile. 

In  829,  Michael  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Theophi- 
lus,  who  had  been  well  educated.  An  Iconoclast,  he 
ordered  the  removal  and  destruction  of  pictures  and 
images,  and  cruelly  treated  their  advocates.  He  died 
in  842. 

Under  Theodora,  his  Empress,  Iconoclasm  was  sup- 
pressed, and  the  opposite  party  favoured.  Since  then, 
reverence  of  images  (not  sculpture)  has  been  retained 
in  the  Eastern  Church. 

In  this  controversy,  the  Church  in  France  took  mid- 
dle ground,  and  endeavoured  to  mediate.  In  814, 
Claudius,  Bishop  of  Turin,  a  fierce  Iconoclast,  rejected 
all  pictures,  crosses,  etc.,  from  his  churches. 

About  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  a  standard 
collection  had  been  made  of  the  canons  of  General  and 
other  important  Councils,  including  certain  decrees  of 
the  Bishop  of  Eome.  Between  830  and  850  were  pub- 
lished the  ^'  False  Decretals/^  an  addition  to  the  above, 
pretending  to  be  letters  and  decrees  of  the  earlier 
Popes.  They  contain  anachronisms,  but  were  by 
many  received  as  genuine.  They  greatly  exalted  the 
Papal  power,  and  set  up  the  hierarchy  beyond  the 


66  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

reach  of  the  civil  law.     The  extraordinary  claims  of 
the  Papacy  rest  largely  upon  these  forgeries. 

The  breaking  up  of  the  Frankish  Empire,  about  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century,  added  to  the  political 
power  of  the  Popes,  who  became  arbiters  in  contro- 
versies. About  this  time  occurred  the  ravages  of  the 
I^orthmen,  piratical  crews  who  were  a  terror  to  the 
coasts  of  Europe,  plundering  everywhere,  destroying 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  almost  driving  out 
Christianity.  Jealousies  among  the  Prankish  nobles 
prevented  their  making  head  against  the  common 
enemy. 

In  the  South,  the  Saracens  pressed  their  conquests 
by  way  of  Sicily,  penetrating  even  to  Rome. 

The  Eucharistic  controversy  began  in  831.  A 
monk,  Paschasius  Radbert,  wi'ote  a  treatise,  improved 
in  834,  setting  forth  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantia- 
tion.  He  was  opposed  by  another  monk,  Ratramn, 
and  by  most  of  the  theologians  of  the  age,  but  was  sup- 
ported by  Hijwmar,  a  prominent  French  ecclesiastic, 
born  in  806,  and  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Rheims  in 
845.  He  was  a  powerful  defender  of  the  rights  of  the 
Church  and  of  his  sovereign  against  the  growing 
claims  of  the  Papacy. 

In  the  controversy  as  to  Predestination,  Gotte- 
schalk,  a  student  of  Saint  Augustine's  works,  stub- 
bornly maintained  the  doctrine.  Hincmar  bitterly 
opposed  him,  and  caused  him  to  be  punished  by  flog- 
ging and  imprisonment.  The  treatise  of  John  Scotus 
was    the    most    remarkable    against    predestination. 


NINTH  CENTURY.  67 

Much  feeling  was  excited  by  this  controversy.  In  869, 
Gotteschalk  died  in  prison,  where  he  had  been  defiant 
twenty  years. 

Mcolas  I.  became  Pope  in  858.  A  man  of  great 
force  of  character,  he  advanced  the  Papal  over  the 
political  power.  He  appealed  to  the  forged  decretals 
to  support  his  assumed  authority  over  Kings  and  dis- 
tant Metropolitans.  His  successor,  Adrian  II.,  at- 
tempting to  interfere  in  political  affairs  of  Prance,  was 
boldly  rebuked  by  Hincmar,  and  forced  to  retract 
(869).  The  case  of  Irenseus,  in  the  second  century, 
exhorting  Victor  to  moderation  in  his  imperious 
claims  (Robertson,  I.,  v.,  73)  was  a  precedent  for  such 
mediation.  Pope  Adrian  soon  after  drew  down  upon 
himself  another  rebuke  from  Hincmar  and  Charles  the 
Bald,  on  his  interference  in  behalf  of  an  unworthy 
Bishop,  Hincmar  the  Younger,  nephew  of  Archbishop 
Hincmar.  In  this  affair,  the  Archbishop  wrote  a  de- 
nial of  the  Papal  claims,  as  resting  on  the  forged 
decretals. 

Charles  the  Bald  was  crowned  Emperor  by  Pope 
John  VIII.  in  872.  In  876,  Hincmar  and  other 
French  Bishops  successfully  resisted  the  attempted 
encroachments  on  their  rights  by  this  Pope,  with 
whom  the  Emperor  sided,  and  who  appointed  a 
primate  over  Hincmar  and  ordered  appeals  to  Pome. 

During  the  reign  of  the  Eastern  Emperor  Michael 
III.,  called  "  the  drunkard,"  Ignatius,  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  who  was  consecrated  in  846,  fell  un- 
der the  displeasure  of  a  corrupt  Court  and  was  ban- 


68  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

ished.  Photius,  a  man  of  great  learning,  was  appointed 
to  his  place.  An  irregular  deposition  removed  Igna- 
tius, who  would  not  resign,  and  was  beaten  and  impris- 
oned. An  appeal  was  made  to  Rome  by  the  partisans 
of  both  Bishops.  Pope  IN^icholas  wrote  in  an  arrogant 
style,  provoking  opposition  from  the  Eastern  Emperor 
and  Church.  Violent  correspondence  and  mutual 
anathemas  were  exchanged.  The  Pope  favoured  Ig- 
natius. 

The  Bulgarians  had  recently  been  converted  to 
Christianity.  Their  King,  baptized  by  Photius,  after- 
wards sent  to  the  Pope  for  Bishops  and  missionaries. 
Photius  strongly  resented  the  Roman  intrusion,  and 
summoned  a  synod  (867),  which  condemned  the  ac- 
tion of  the  Pope. 

Basil  the  Macedonian  murdered  Michael  and 
usurped  the  throne  in  867.  Photius  was  deposed,  and 
Ignatius  reinstated.  His  cause  was  affirmed  by  a 
Council,  the  Latins  assisting.  Soon  after,  Ignatius 
sent  an  Archbishop  into  Bulgaria,  and  ejected  the 
Latin  clergy,  which  gave  rise  to  more  sharp  disputes 
with  Rome,  and  "  a  violent  collision  would  probably 
have  ensued  "  had  not  Ignatius  died  in  877.  Photius, 
who  had  been  reconciled  to  Ignatius,  was  reappointed 
Patriarch.  A  Council  was  held,  to  which  the  Pope 
sent  delegates  with  assumptions  and  demands,  which 
were  quietly  set  aside.  John  YIII.  was  violent,  and 
sent  a  Legate  to  Constantinople,  to  insist  that  Bulgaria 
should  be  restored  to  Rome.  The  Legate  was  impris- 
oned for  a  month,  and  returned  without  success. 


NINTH  CENTURY.  69 

Christianity  in  Spain  was  tolerated  by  the  Ma- 
hometan conquerors.  In  850,  a  bitter  persecution 
broke  out,  marked  by  bigotry  on  both  sides.  Many 
Christians  courted  martyrdom,  in  the  fanatical  spirit 
condemned  by  Saint  Cyprian  in  the  third  century. 

Moravia  was  Christianized  from  Bulgaria.  Two 
brothers,  Cyril  and  Methodius,  were  sent  as  mission- 
aries from  Constantinople,  and  met  with  great  success. 
They  translated  the  liturgy  and  portions  of  the  Script- 
ure into  the  Slavonic  tongue.  In  868,  the  Pope  conse- 
crated Methodius  Archbishop  of  the  Moravians.  After 
some  disputes,  in  880,  the  liturgy  in  the  local  language 
was  permitted  by  the  Pope. 

Christianity  was  introduced  among  the  Danes  and 
Swedes  by  efforts  of  Louis  the  Pious,  the  successor  of 
Charlemagne.  Ehho  was  sent  to  Denmark  in  822. 
He  baptized  the  King.  Anskar,  the  "  Apostle  of  the 
ISTorth  "  (born  801),  carried  on  the  work  there  and  in 
Sweden.  He  was  a  monk  of  enthusiastic  character, 
who  fancied  he  saw  visions.  He  was  consecrated 
Archbishop  at  Hamburg  in  831.  His  church  and 
monastery  were  burned  by  Northmen.  He  then  went 
to  Sweden,  where  he  had  great  success.  He  died  in 
865. 


0  .  .J^^ 


c^'  i.:^  '^^-^ 


TENTH    CENTURY. 

The  tenth  century,  although  unmarked  bj  theo- 
logical controversies,  was  a  time  of  general  religious 
decline.  About  the  end  of  the  ninth  and  beginning  of 
the  tenth,  the  Hungarians,  a  savage  and  pagan  nation, 
overran  a  large  part  of  Europe.  The  Carolingian 
dynasty  fell  to  pieces  by  its  own  weight.  Great  power 
was  held  by  the  nobles,  who  were  petty  tyrants. 
Troubles  from  the  !N^orsemen  continued.  In  911, 
Charles  the  Simple  ceded  to  them  E^ormandy,  v/here 
they  settled,  and  in  time  became  a  Christianized  and 
civilized  people.  Corruption  increased.  The  tempor- 
alities of  the  Church  were  made  political  rewards,  and 
sees  were  objects  of  rival  contention.  The  Papacy 
was  also  contested  and  occupied  by  men  of  evil  life. 
Intrigues  and  murders  disgraced  the  See  of  Saint 
Peter.  "  A  rapid  succession  of  Popes  now  took  place." 
In  a  space  of  fifty  years — from  904  to  955 — there 
were  twelve.  It  was  the  period  of  the  "  Pornocracy, 
when  dissolute  women  held  the  disposal  of  the  See." 
From  955  to  963,  the  Papal  chair  was  held  by  John 
XII.,  a  man  openly  corrupt  and  debauched.  He  broke 
faith  with  Otho,  Emperor  of  Germany,  who  called  a 
Council  and  deposed  him.  Then  followed  a  time  of 
commotion  between  rival  Popes  and  parties,  mixed 


TENTH  CENTUEY.  Yl 

with  state  intrigues.  Popes  made  with  the  Emperor^s 
consent  were  opposed  by  Antipopes  of  the  popular 
choice.  Cruel  punishments  w^ere  inflicted  upon  their 
rivals  by  victorious  parties. 

Arnulf,  Bishop  of  Rheims,  broke  his  solemn  oath  of 
allegiance  to  Hugh  Capet,  and  treacherously  delivered 
that  city  to  his  enemy,  Charles  of  Lorraine.  In  990, 
the  French  Bishops  appealed  to  the  Pope  against  the 
treachery.  John  XY.,  influenced  by  presents  from 
the  accused,  neglected  the  appeal.  A  Council  was 
called  near  Pheims.  Bold  speeches  were  made  against 
the  Papal  usurpations  and  corruptions.  Arnulf  was 
deposed  and  imprisoned.  Gerbert,  a  man  of  high  char- 
acter and  great  learning,  was  appointed  in  his  place. 
In  994,  the  Pope  issued  a  mandate  to  the  deposing 
Bishops,  which  was  neglected;  but  the  next  year,  he 
caused  a  Council  to  be  held,  which  reinstated  Arnulf. 

In  999,  Gerbert  was  raised  to  the  Papacy  by  Otho 
III.,  Emperor  of  Germany,  who  had  been  his  pupil. 
He  took  the  title  of  Sylvester  11.  He  died  in  1003. 
From  his  astronomical  and  mechanical  skill,  he  was 
accused  of  magic. 

The  Second  Advent  and  the  end  of  the  world  were 
expected  in  the  year  1000,  which  was  now  near  at 
hand.  Men's  minds  were  drawn  away  from  their 
ordinary  occupations.  Some  became  reckless.  Others 
gave  heed  to  reform  and  charity.  Multitudes  made 
pilgrimages  to  Palestine,  where  the  Lord  was  expected 
to  appear. 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY. 

In  1002,  Henry  II.  was  chosen  King  of  Germany. 
A  pious  prince,  lie  Avished  to  become  a  monk.  The  story 
is  told  of  the  Abbot  of  Saint  Yanne's  that  he  admitted 
Henry  "  as  a  member  of  his  own  community,  and  im- 
mediately charged  him,  by  his  vow  of  monastic  obedi- 
ence, to  return  to  the  administration  of  the  Empire, 
which  had  been  committed  to  him  by  God.''  Political 
and  ecclesiastical  discords  brought  him  to  Italy,  where 
he  received  the  imperial  crown.  He  put  down  a  rival 
King  and  an  Antipope.  The  E"ormans  settling  in 
Italy  continued  their  robberies. 

In  1033,  Benedict  IX.  was  made  Pope.  He  was  but 
ten  or  twelve  years  old.  He  was  shamefully  corrupt. 
In  1044,  Benedict  was  expelled  by  Sylvester  III.  He 
then  sold  out  to  Gregory  YL,  and  again  resumed  his 
see.  Thus,  three  Popes  at  one  time  claimed  the  chair. 
Great  disorders  prevailed,  revenues  fell  off,  churches 
were  in  ruins.  Henry  III.,  the  Emperor,  interfered 
and  set  them  all  aside  (1046). 

Dunstan  was  born  in  925.  In  early  life,  he  was  an 
ascetic.  The  story  is  related  of  his  conflict  with  the 
devil,  who  put  in  his  head  at  the  window  and  suggested 
evil  thoughts  while  the  Saint  was  at  his  forge.  Dun- 
stan waited  until  the  tongs  were  red  hot,  when  he 
caught  him  by  the  nose  and  held  him.     He  became 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY.  ^       73 

Primate  at  Canterbury  in  960.  He  reformed  the 
clergy  and  monasteries.  He  resisted  the  Pope,  who 
ordered  him  to  restore  an  Earl,  excommunicated  for 
an  unlawful  marriage,  for  which  he  had  bought  the 
Pope's  mandate,  permitting  it. 

Ireland  had  been  overrun  by  the  Danes  in  the  tenth 
century.  The  Danes  of  Dublin  were  afterwards  Chris- 
tianized. About  1040,  they  sent  to  England  for 
Bishops,  and  thus  was  introduced  the  Church  of 
Rome. 

Russia  was  converted  by  the  Greek  Church  about 
the  end  of  the  tenth  century.  In  1051,  a  native  Rus- 
sian was  made  Primate. 

Iceland  was  colonized  from  ISTorway  in  874.  Chris- 
tianity, which  half-civilized  princes  had  attempted  to 
plant  by  violence,  did  not  prevail  until  propagated  by 
Saint  Olave,  with  milder  measures,  in  1000.  It  had  a 
fixed  Episcopate  in  1056.  About  the  same  time,  the 
Church  was  carried  to  Greenland.  In  1276,  it  had 
sixteen  Bishops.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  the  colony 
was  wasted  by  pestilence,  and  exterminated  by  the 
Esquimaux;   and  Greenland  was  forgotten  to  Europe. 

Church  building  revived  in  the  Eleventh  century. 
Saint  Mark's,  Venice,  was  finished  in  1071. 

Chivalry  grew  up  in  this  age. 

Henry  III.,  Emperor  of  the  Western  Empire, 
claimed  the  privilege  of  nominating  the  Pope.  On  a 
vacancy  in  1048,  he  appointed  Bruno,  who  unwill- 
ingly accepted  the  insignia  of  office  and  set  out  for 
Rome.  AtBesanpon,  he  was  met  by  Hildehrand,  a 


74  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

monk  of  Cluny,  wlio  induced  him  to  decline  the  ap- 
pointment as  from  the  Emperor,  and  submit  himself 
to  the  free  choice  of  the  Italian  priests  and  people. 
He  did  this  publicly  at  Rome,  entering  the  city  as  a 
pilgrim  without  the  ensigns  of  the  apostolic  office,  and 
was  hailed  as  Pope,  and  known  as  Leo  IX.  (1049). 
Hildebrand  was  a  reformer  of  the  Church,  chiefly 
from  the  corruptions  arising  from  its  civil  connections. 

A  prominent  man  among  the  Roman  clergy  at  this 
time  was  Peter  Damiani  (born  1007,  died  1060).  He 
was  noted  for  his  austerities.  He  practised  and  taught 
self-flagellation  and  clerical  celibacy.  He  was  elo- 
quent. He  wrote  the  life  of  one  Dominic,  who  was 
given  to  excessive  self-torture  and  to  multiplied  recita- 
tions of  the  Psalms,  laying  off  his  iron  shirt  only  to 
chastise  himself  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand  lashes  to  ten 
Psalms,  working  off  a  year  of  penance  with  three  thou- 
sand lashes,  and  five  years  with  the  whole  Psalter, 
which  he  went  through  twice,  in  Lent  three  times, 
often  ten,  and  once  twelve  times  and  over  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  accomplishing  in  a  week  the  equal  of  a 
hundred  years  of  penance  for  the  sins  of  other  men. 

Leo  IX.  was  active  in  reform.  He  enacted  canons 
against  simony,  including  fees  and  presents,  and 
against  marriage  of  the  clergy.  He  set  out  on  a  tour 
of  personal  visitation  and  reformation.  The  story  of 
Godfrey,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  illustrates  his  power. 
Godfrey  was  a  rebel  against  Henry  III.  He  had 
burned  the  Cathedral  of  Yerdun.  Leo  excommuni- 
cated him.    The  prince,  who  had  defied  the  Emperor, 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY.  75 

bowed  as  a  suppliant  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  Over- 
awed by  his  presence,  he  submitted  to  public  scourging 
before  the  altar  that  he  might  be  readmitted  to  the 
Church.  He  obeyed  the  command  to  rebuild  the 
Cathedral  which  he  had  burned,  and  himself  laboured 
as  a  common  workman  at  the  masonry.  Leo  went  to 
Rheims,  entering  the  French  King's  dominion  with- 
out his  leave,  and  consecrated  the  Abbey  Church  of 
Saint  Remigius  to  hold  the  sacred  bones  of  the 
"  Apostle  of  the  Franks.''  He  had  summoned  a  synod 
to  meet  him  there  (1049).  Bishops  and  clergy  from 
England  were  present.  Some  Bishops  were  deposed 
for  simony.  A  canon  was  passed,  ordering  that  a 
Bishop  should  be  the  choice  of  clergy  and  people. 

Leo  at  first  obtained  aid  from  the  Emperor  against 
the  ITormans,  who  were  settled  in  Southern  Italy  and 
thence  invaded  the  Papal  dominions.  The  aid  Avas 
soon  withdrawn,  and  Leo  himself  led  an  army  of  his 
own  against  them;  but  was  defeated  and  taken  pris- 
oner. The  victors,  however,  approached  him  with 
awe,  and  he  was  well  treated.  He  granted  his  captors 
certain  privileges,  including  the  lands  they  held  or 
might  conquer.  Returning  to  Rome  after  nine  months 
of  ^^  honorable  captivity,"  he  spread  his  couch  in  Saint 
Peter's,  near  his  tomb,  and  died  there  before  the  altar, 
April  19,  1054. 

An  attempt  was  made  in  1053  to  compose  the  differ- 
ences between  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches,  such  as 
common  bread  or  unleavened  in  the  Eucharist,  modes 
of  fasting,  married  or  celibate  clergy.    Commissioners 


76  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

were  sent  from  Rome  to  Constantinople,  but  became 
violent  against  their  opponents  and  anathematized 
them,  and  the  separation  continued  (1058). 

Clerical  marriage  had  been  the  practice  of  the 
Church  in  Milan,  whose  clergy  were  a  superior  body 
of  men  to  the  rest  of  the  Italian  Church.  Some  fa- 
natics, in  1056,  began  denouncing  publicly  this  liberty 
of  the  clergy,  and  exciting  mobs  against  them.  The 
Pope  sent  Peter  Damiani  to  hold  a  synod  there.  Great 
excitement  arose  on  the  part  of  the  Milanese  to  defend 
the  independence  of  the  Church  of  Saint  Ambrose. 
The  synod,  however,  prevailed,  through  the  eloquence 
of  Peter,  and  established  the  Roman  rule  and  prac- 
tises. 

A  Council  held  at  Rome  in  1059,  prohibited  mar- 
riage to  the  clergy,  and  enacted  that  the  election  of  a 
Pope  should  be  first  by  the  Cardinals,  being  then  the 
seven  Bishops  of  the  Papal  province,  twenty-eight 
chief  parish  Priests  of  Rome,  and  afterwards  some 
deacons,  the  whole  number  in  1586  being  fixed  at 
seventy. 

After  the  death  of  Mcholas  II.  in  1061,  there  were 
intrigues  over  a  new  election.  The  Roman  party,  un- 
der Hildebrand,  chose  and  installed  Alexander  II.  A 
Lombardy  party  in  the  imperial  interest  chose  Hono- 
rius  II.  There  were  bloody  conflicts  between  the  two 
parties,  but  a  synod  in  1062  decided  for  Alexander. 

Great  excitement  was  occasioned  again  in  Milan, 
and  also  in  Florence,  in  1066,  with  bloodshed,  over  the 
question  of  a  married  clergy. 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY.  77 

A  noted  man  in  those  days  was  Adalbert,  Arch- 
bishop of  Bremen,  who  had  great  power  over  the  King, 
Henry  TV.  Learned  and  influential,  he  was  inordi- 
nately ambitions,  and  became  very  corrupt,  selling 
preferments.    He  died  in  1072. 

Hildebrand,  who  had  long  exercised  great  power 
over  the  Papacy,  was  consecrated  Pope  in  1073,  under 
the  title  of  Gregory  YII.  He  advanced  the  claims  of 
the  Papacy  even  beyond  those  of  the  false  decretals. 
Bishops  were  to  be  deposed  at  his  will,  even  Kings 
and  Emperors  also,  and  their  subjects  released  from 
allegiance.  There  was  to  be  no  appeal  from  his  de- 
cision. He  boldly  denounced  the  offences  of  sove- 
reigns, requiring  their  reformation  under  penalties. 
In  Council,  he  passed  canons  against  simony  and  cler- 
ical marriage.  Violent  opposition  and  commotions 
were  produced  in  France  and  Germany.  To  the  dis- 
solute Philip  I.  of  France,  he  wrote  severely,  threaten- 
ing to  excommunicate  and  interdict  him;  but  the 
lOng,  while  avoiding  a  conflict,  opposed  a  sullen  resist- 
ance, and  no  reformation  followed.  "  At  one  time  all 
the  Archbishops  of  France  were  under  excommunica- 
tion." Henry  lY.,  King  of  Germany,  quarrelled  with 
the  Pope,  who  threatened  him  mth  excommunication 
if  he  were  contumacious.  The  King,  in  indignation, 
caused  a  Council  in  1076  to  pronounce  sentence  of 
deposition  against  him.  An  insolent  letter  from  the 
King  was  delivered  to  the  Pope  at  a  Papal  Council. 
Gregory  saved  the  messenger  from  violence,  but  ex- 
communicated Henry  and  all  the  Bishops  of  his  party, 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

deposing  the  one  and  suspending  the  others.  Dis- 
turbances "  rent  all  Germany  into  two  hostile  parties/' 
Henry's  power  was  on  the  wane.  He  determined  to 
submit  to  save  his  throne.  He  went  to  Italy  and,  after 
deep  humiliation  at  Canossa,  was  received  by  Gregory 
and  absolved  on  hard  conditions.  Civil  war  broke  out 
in  Germany.  There  was  a  royal  and  a  Papal  party. 
As  Henry  had  ^'  resumed  the  insignia  of  royalty,"  the 
Papal  party  summoned  a  diet,  and  Rudolph  was  set  up 
as  King.  The  Pope  supported  him  (1080),  and  re- 
peated his  anathemas  against  Henry.  Henry  retali- 
ated by  calling  a  Council,  which  elected  an  Antipope, 
Clement  III.  Eudolph  was  slain  in  battle.  Gregory 
was  alarmed,  and  relaxed  some  of  his  too  rigid  rules  to 
conciliate  sundry  European  powers.  Henry  besieged 
Pome  three  years,  and  entered  it  in  1084.  The  Anti- 
pope  was  enthroned,  and  Henry  was  crowned  as  Em- 
peror. Gregory  still  held  out  in  the  Castle  of  Saint 
Angelo,  and  sent  for  aid  to  the  ITormans  in  Southern 
Italy.  They  suddenly  appeared  with  a  large  army, 
before  which  Henry  retreated.  Pome  was  sacked  and 
burned.  Gregory  afterwards  retired  to  Salerno, 
where  he  died  in  1085. 

A  controversy  arose  in  the  eleventh  century  in  ref- 
erence to  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation.  One 
Berengar  opposed  the  doctrine  of  a  material  change  in 
the  elements,  while  admitting  a  spiritual  change.  He 
was  opposed  by  -Lanfranc,  the  controversy  being 
marked  by  much  bitterness.  Their  treatises  are  ex- 
tant.   Berengar  was  condemned  by  several  Councils, 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY.  79 

and  even  forced  to  retract.  He  continued,  however, 
to  teach  his  doctrines,  and  had  many  followers.  His 
teachings  w^ere  a  renewal  of  those  of  Ratramn  in  834. 
Gregory,  although  not  a  supporter  of  Berengar's  opin- 
ions, treated  him  kindly. 

Severe  conflicts  between  the  Pope  (Victor  III.)  and 
Antipope  occurred  about  1087,  each  in  turn  holding 
Eome. 

Pilgrims  to  the  Holy  Land  had  long  been  greatly 
oppressed  by  Turkish  bigotry.  Peter  the  Hermit, 
about  1093,  began  to  preach  a  crusade,  and  roused 
great  enthusiasm.  The  Pope,  Urban  IL,  in  1095, 
held  Councils  on  this  subject  in  Italy,  and  also  in 
France.  Plenary  indulgence  was  promised  to  the 
Crusaders.  A  fever  of  excitement  ran  through  Eu- 
rope. Disorderly  crowds  swarmed  toward  the  East. 
The  Jews  were  oppressed  on  the  way.  There  was 
neither  discipline  nor  military  preparation.  The  first 
battle  was  fought  near  Mcsea.  The  Turks  were  vic- 
torious. Numerous  victims  fell  to  bigotry  and  false 
zeal. 

More  regular  forces  were  then  organized.  Godfrey 
of  Bouillon,  with  others  from  Germany  and  France, 
and  I^ormans  from  Italy,  set  out.  Nicsea  was  be- 
sieged, and  taken  in  1097.  After  a  painful  march 
through  Asia  Minor,  Antioch  was  taken  the  next  year; 
but  provisions  were  recklessly  wasted,  and  when  the 
city  was  reinvested  by  the  Turks,  there  was  great  dis- 
tress among  the  Christians.  Suddenly  came  the  dis- 
covery of  "  the  Sacred  Lance,''  which  had  pierced  the 


80  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Eedeemer's  side.  With  this  borne  in  front,  a  success- 
ful sally  was  made,  and  tlie  dispersion  of  the  enemy 
was  effected. 

The  next  year,  the  advance  to  Jerusalem  was  begun. 
I'he  first  attack  was  repulsed.  Towers  and  battering 
rams  were  constructed  and  used,  and  Jerusalem  was 
taken  by  assault  July  15, 1099,  Friday,  3  p.m.  Tearful 
massacres  and  cruelties  were  inflicted  on  the  part  of 
the  victors.  A  kingdom  was  organized,  of  which  God- 
frey was  chosen  King.  He  refused  to  be  crowned  with 
gold,  where  his  Master  had  been  crowned  with  thorns. 
His  kingdom  was  established  throughout  Palestine. 
He  adopted  wise  laws,  famous  as  the  "  Assizes  of  Jeru- 
salem." He  died  the  next  year,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  brother  Baldwin. 

In  1099,  the  Antipope  was  finally  driven  from 
Rome. 

Henry,  the  son  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.  of  Ger- 
many, rebelled,  treacherously  imprisoned  his  father, 
and  compelled  his  abdication.  The  Emperor  escaped. 
Civil  war  arose.  The  hostile  armies  of  son  and  father 
were  approaching  each  other,  when  suddenly  Henry 
lY.  died,  on  the  eve  of  a  battle,  in  1106. 

After  the  E'orman  Conquest  of  England  (1066), 
the  sees  were  filled  with  foreign  Bishops,  to  the  injury 
of  the  best  interests  of  the  Church.  Lanfranc  (vid. 
ante).  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  1071,  made 
great  reforms.  He  favored  clerical  celibacy;  but  very 
many  English  Priests  were  married.  William  the 
Conqueror  would  not  acknowledge  the  full  claims  oi 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY.  81 

the  Pope.  He  would  not  promise  fealty,  nor  allow  his 
Bishops  to  be  summoned  to  Rome.  The  Pope  cited 
Lanfranc  to  the  Papal  city  in  vain.  William  impris- 
oned his  brother,  Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  against  the 
remonstrances  of  the  Pope.  His  successor,  Rufus, 
plundered  the  Church,  leaving  bishoprics  vacant  that 
he  might  seize  their  revenues. 

Lanfranc  was  succeeded  by  Anselm,  a  learned  theo- 
logian of  high  personal  character  (1093).  He  ac- 
cepted the  Primacy  unwillingly.  There  w^ere  con- 
stant disagreements  with  King  Pufus,  who  wished  to 
extort  money  from  the  Church.  The  King  often  came 
to  an  agreement  and  afterwards  broke  faith.  Disputes 
in  reference  to  homage  due  continued  with  his  succes- 
sor, Henry  I.  Anselm  spent  much  time  in  Prance  in 
retirement  from  his  Archiepiscopate.  He  was  every- 
where highly  respected.    He  died  in  1109. 

There  were  quarrels  between  the  Pope  and  Henry 
V.  in  reference  to  the  relations  of  the  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical authority,  such  as  the  investing  of  Bishops  by 
the  King,  and  the  seizing  of  Church  revenues.  The 
Emperor  secured  the  concession  that  Bishops  should 
be  vassals  of  the  crown,  and  not  of  the  Papacy. 

William  of  Hirschan  reformed  German  monasteries 
(1069-91).  He  encouraged  architecture,  music,  and 
the  arts  of  ecclesiastical  decoration  among  the  monks. 
Xew  monastic  orders  were  founded,  that  of  the  Car- 
thusians by  Bruno  in  1084.  The  legend  is  told  of  the 
cause  of  his  retirement  from  the  world  that,  when  a 
pious  and  learned  doctor  was  being  carried  to  the 


82  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

grave,  the  dead  body  raised  itself  and  exclaimed :  "  By 
God's  righteous  judgment,  I  am  accused."  The  rites 
were  suspended  for  a  day.  On  their  renewal,  he 
moaned:  ^^  By  God's  righteous  judgment,  I  am 
judged.''  A  day  passed,  and  again  he  cried:  "By 
God's  righteous  judgment,  I  am  condemned."  Rigid 
rules  of  coarse  dress  and  spare  diet,  of  flagellations, 
silence,  and  poverty  were  laid  down  for  the  order. 
They  built  the  splendid  monastery  of  the  Certosa,  near 
Pavia,  in  1396.  Though  they  became  wealthy,  they 
did  not  degenerate.  The  Cistercian  order  was  widely 
diffused.  It  was  distinguished  by  white  dresses,  and 
observed  plainness  of  living  and  simple  rites.  Saint 
Bernard  was  an  Abbot  of  this  order.  The  order  of 
the  Hospitallers  originated  in  Jerusalem  about  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  in  the  hospital  for  the 
relief  of  pilgrims.  During  the  Crusades,  the  brethren 
of  the  hospital  became  independent  of  their  monas- 
tery, and  formed  an  order,  whose  costume  was  a  black 
dress  with  a  white  cross  on  the  breast.  They  lived 
monastically,  under  vows,  in  1113.  About  the  same 
time,  arose  the  military  order  of  the  Temple  of  Jeru- 
salem. The  Templars  originated,  in  1118,  in  a  band 
of  nine  French  Knights,  who  defended  pilgrims  going 
from  Jerusalem  to  bathe  in  the  Jordan.  They  lived 
under  a  discipline,  half  military,  half  monastic.  The 
order  soon  numbered  thousands  of  brave  warriors, 
under  one  master.  Rivalry  revived  a  martial  spirit  in 
the  Hospitallers,  now  become  wealthy  and  strong. 
They  were  divided  into  Knights,  Clergy  and  Serving 


ELEVENTH  CENTUEY.  83 

Brethren.  They  showed  valor,  but  also  became  arro- 
gant, and  were  expelled  from  the  Holy  Land  for  insult- 
ing the  Patriarch  and  for  non-payment  of  dues. 


TWELFTH  CEXTURY. 

]jr  1110,  Henry  V.,  of  Germany,  entered  Italy  with 
an  army,  and  imprisoned  the  Pope  and  Cardinals.  The 
Pope  submitted,  and  agreed  not  to  excommunicate  the 
Enif^eror:  but  afterwards  sanctioned  siich  excom- 
munication, when  pronounced  by  others.  Henry  re- 
turned to  Pome,  and  the  Pope  fled  and  soon  after  died. 
A  new  Pope  and  Antip^pe  carried  on  the  feud.  In 
Henry's  absence,  discords  appeared  in  Germany  be- 
tween the  imperial  and  Papal  parties.  A  concordat 
was  completed  in  1122.  both  parties  making  conces- 
sions. 

Henrv  died  in  1125,  learino:  no  natural  heir.  A 
great  assemblage  of  nobles  and  people  met  to  elect  his 
successor.  Lothair  was  chc>sen.  In  1130,  rival  Popes 
were  chosen  by  Poman  factions,  ^iz. :  Anacletus  II. 
and  Innocent  II.  The  former  is  held  as  Antipope. 
Anacletus  was  corrupt,  and  gained  the  power  in  Pome. 
Innocent  went  to  France.  He  was  supported  by  Peter 
the  Venerable,  Abbot  of  Clunv,  and  bv  Saint  Ber- 
vard.  Abbot  of  Clairvaux. 

Bernard,  bom  1091,  was  devoted  to  a  religious  life 
by  a  pious  mother.  He  persuaded  his  whole  family  to 
the  monastic  life.  He  founded  Clairvaux,  an  offshoot 
from  the  Cistercian  Abbey.  He  adopted  a  rigorous 
rule.      The  excessive  mortification  of  Bernard  ren- 


TWELFTH  CENTCTiY.  85 

dered  his  life  in  danger.  He  was  powerfully  eloquent, 
and  of  great  influence. 

The  disputes  of  the  rival  Popes  came  before  Lothair. 
Innocent  was  acknowledged  bv  the  Emperor,  whom 
he  crowned.  Lothair  accompanied  him  to  Rome. 
Bernard  favoured  Innocent,  and  aided  him  by  his  elo- 
quence. The  death  of  the  Antipope  in  1138  left  Inno- 
cent's claims  unquestioned. 

Bernard  opposed  the  brilliant  Abelard.  a  popular 
teacher  of  philosophy  and  a  speculator  in  theology, 
and  caused  him  to  be  condemned  for  heretical  opinions 
by  a  Council  and  by  the  Pope. 

Arnold  of  Brescia,  bom  in  110.5,  preached  against 
the  corruptions  of  the  clergy.  He  would  strip  the 
Church  of  its  great  wealth  and  privileges.  His  doc- 
trines were  received  by  the  people  at  Home.  Eepubli- 
canism  **  of  the  ancient  Roman  model "'  grew  there, 
and  led  to  a  revolt  against  the  Pope  (1143).  Eugenius 
HI.  was  expelled  from  Rome  in  1146. 

Dissensions  and  luxury  weakened  the  Latin  king- 
dom in  the  East.  Edessa  was  captured  by  the  Mussul- 
mans, and  great  slaughter  of  the  Christians  was  car- 
ried on  in  1144.  Pope  Eugenius  announced  a  new 
Crusade.  Bernard  eLx^uently  preached  it  in  France 
and  Germany,  and  met  with  renewed  enthusiasm. 
Louis  \  11..  of  France,  assimied  the  Cross.  In  Ger- 
many, Bernard  protected  the  Jews  from  the  popular 
anger.  He  persuaded  the  Emperor  Conrad  to  go  on 
the  Crusade.  Miracles  attributed  to  Bernard  in- 
creased his  power. 


86  HISTOKY   OF  THE  CHURCH. 

In  1147,  Conrad  descended  the  Danube  with  a 
large  force.  The  jealousy  of  the  Greek  Empire  pro- 
voked quarrels  on  their  way  through  that  country. 
The  French  force  followed  later  in  the  same  year.  In 
Asia  Minor,  the  Germans,  deceived  by  their  Greek 
guides,  were  defeated  by  the  Turks  and  driven  back 
on  ISTicsea,  where  the  French  had  arrived.  Louis  was 
checked  near  Attalia,  and  his  vanguard  cut  to  pieces; 
but  he  embarked  with  the  remnant  of  his  forces  for 
Antioch,  and  reached  Jerusalem  more  like  a  pilgrim 
than  a  warrior.  Here  he  met  Conrad.  A  siege  of 
Damascus  was  begun,  but  failed  through  jealousies 
among  the  Christians,  when  Louis  returned  home  in 
disgust  with  less  than  three  hundred  men. 

At  the  request  of  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  Bernard  drew 
up  a  treatise  "  on  Consideration ''  in  which  he  set 
forth  the  responsibilities  and  obligations  of  the  Pope. 
Bernard  died  in  1153. 

Frederick  I.  (Barbarossa)  succeeded  to  the  German 
crown  in  1152.  He  gained  his  point  in  a  contest  with 
the  Pope  relative  to  the  appointment  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Magdeburg.  In  1154,  he  entered  Italy, 
with  a  large  army,  to  check  the  tendency  of  the  Roman 
cities  towards  independence.  ISTicolas  Breakspear, 
an  Englishman,  was  then  Pope,  under  the  name  of 
Adrian  TV.  He  repudiated  the  republican  govern- 
ment, and  punished  the  consequent  rebellion  of  the 
Romans  by  placing  the  city  under  an  interdict.  Ar- 
nold of  Brescia  fled,  but  was  given  up  to  Frederick, 
and  Adrian  caused  him  to  be  put  to  death.    Frederick 


TWELFTH  CENTURY.  87 

entered  Kome,  and  was  crowned  by  the  Pope.  An 
outbreak  of  the  Komans  was  defeated  by  the  Germans. 

A  fierce  quarrel  arose  between  the  Emperor  and  tlie 
Pope,  relative  to  their  political  rights.  The  Emperor 
was  provoked  because  the  Pope  had  entered  into  an  al- 
liance with  the  Sicilians  without  his  consent.  The 
Pope  was  displeased  with  the  Emperor's  irregular 
marriage.  These,  with  misunderstandings  and  differ- 
ences, threatened  a  rupture,  which,  however,  was  ter- 
minated by  the  death  of  Adrian  in  1159. 

Kival  elections  to  the  Papacy  followed,  with  great 
contentions  between  the  Popes  Alexander  III.  and 
Victor  lY.,  the  latter  supported  by  the  Emperor.  The 
rivals  excommunicated  each  other.  Milan,  which  was 
opposed  to  the  Emperor,  naturally  favoured  Alexander. 
It  was  besieged  by  the  Emperor,  and,  after  three  years, 
surrendered  in  1162,  when,  with  the  exception  of 
churches  and  monasteries,  it  was  razed  to  the  ground. 
The  relics  of  the  Magi,  "  the  Three  Kings,"  were  sent 
to  Cologne.  Alexander  took  refuge  in  France,  where 
he  was  supported  by  the  clergy  of  France  and  Eng- 
land. Pope  Alexander  returned  to  Rome  in  1165.  In 
1167,  the  Emperor  again  entered  Italy  with  an  army, 
advanced  to  Rome,  and  gained  possession  of  the  Papal 
city.  He  enthroned  Paschal  III.  the  successor  to  Vic- 
tor, and  was  crowned  by  him  on  August  1st.  Alexan- 
der escaped.  A  sudden  pestilence  broke  out  in  the 
German  army.  It  was  looked  upon  as  a  Divine  judg- 
ment. Frederick  returned  north,  barely  escaping  with 
his  life  through  the  hostile  mountains. 


88  HISTOKY  OF  THE   CHUECH. 

In  1170,  Thomas  a  Becket,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, was  murdered  at  the  instance  of  Henry  II.,  of 
England,  who  afterwards  purchased  peace  with  the 
Church  by  humble  penance  at  Becket's  tomb,  all  of 
which  gave  Alexander  greater  power. 

Frederick  recrossed  the  Alps  in  1174,  to  avenge 
himself  on  the  Lombards,  but  was  defeated,  humbled 
himself  before  Pope  Alexander,  and  accepted  terms  of 
peace  at  Venice.  Alexander  returned  to  Kome,  and 
his  claim  was  no  longer  contested. 

The  next  Pope,  Lucius  III.,  having  been  chosen  by 
the  Cardinals  alone  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
Romans,  was  rebelled  against  and  driven  from  Home. 

The  Mussulman  power  advanced  in  the  East,  on  ac- 
count of  the  great  depravity  of  the  Latin  kingdom. 
The  rise  of  Saladin  effected  a  change  of  rule.  His 
noble  character  was  conspicuous  for  "  justice,  mag- 
nanimity, generosity,  courtesy  and  truth."  He  was 
noted  for  his  "  skill  in  arms  and  personal  bravery  and 
accomplishments."  His  Mahometan  ^^  piety  and  or- 
thodoxy "  were  ^^  free  from  intolerance."  He  invaded 
the  Holy  Land  in  1187,  and  gained  a  signal  victory  at 
Tiberias.  The  Cross,  which  had  been  sent  from  Jeru- 
salem to  inspire  the  Christians,  was  lost.  The  Holy 
City  was  besieged  and  taken,  after  being  held  by  the 
Latins  for  eighty-eight  years.  The  generosity  of  Sala- 
din offered  liberal  terms  of  ransom  to  all,  and  gave  to 
the  Christians  free  passage  to  Europe  or  allowed  them 
to  remain  on  payment  of  tribute.  Tyre  was  the  only 
place  which  remained  unconquered,  and  was  left  to 


TWELFTH  CENTURY.  89 

the  Christians.  Preaching  of  a  new  Crusade  had  been 
begun  in  Europe  in  1184.  The  capture  of  Jerusalem 
excited  all  Europe.  The  Emperor  Frederick,  now 
sixty-seven  years  old,  assumed  the  Cross  and  set  out 
with  an  army  in  1189.  There  was  renewed  trouble 
with  Greeks,  who  withheld  promised  supplies.  Fred- 
erick took  several  of  their  cities,  and  compelled  their 
aid.  He  crossed  the  Hellespont,  with  eighty-three 
thousand  men.  In  the  disastrous  march  through  Asia 
Minor,  amid  treachery  and  famine,  he  preserved  dis- 
cipline, and  with  diminished  forces  obtained  an  over- 
whelming victory  at  Iconium,  when  he  was  drowned 
in  crossing  a  river  near  Tarsus.  Panic  demoralized 
the  army,  and  only  five  thousand  reached  Acre,  then 
besieged  by  the  Christians. 

Richard  of  England  (Coeur  de  Lion)  raised  money 
by  the  sale  of  preferments  and  by  the  plunder  of 
churches.  He  made  a  compact  with  Philip  of  France, 
and  both  Kings  went  on  the  Crusade,  and  joined  Leo- 
pold of  Austria  before  Acre.  The  jealousies  of  the 
different  nations,  and  the  overbearing  character  of 
Richard,  bred  discord.  After  two  years'  siege,  and 
great  loss  on  both  sides.  Acre  surrendered  in  1191. 
Eight  thousand  persons  were  afterwards  massacred 
by  the  Christians,  in  the  sight  of  Saladin.  Dissensions 
among  the  Christians  broke  up  the  army.  Philip  re- 
turned home.  Richard  remained  another  year,  and 
gained  most  of  the  coast  from  Saladin ;  but  the  army, 
weakened  by  sickness  and  internal  quarrels,  was  un- 
able to  advance  against  Jerusalem.    Richard  returned 


90  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

in  1192,  after  making  a  truce  for  three  years.  In  pass- 
ing through  Austria,  he  was  imprisoned  by  Leopold, 
who  transferred  him  to  the  Emperor  of  Germany. 
The  latter  released  him,  after  fourteen  months,  on 
payment  by  the  English  of  a  heavy  ransom.  Saladin 
died  in  1193.  A  feeble  attempt  to  revive  the  Crusades 
was  made  near  the  close  of  the  century,  but  ended  dis- 
astrously, and  on  the  death  of  the  Emperor,  Henry 
YL,  the  project  was  abandoned. 

The  Greek  Church  remained  in  a  state  of  torpor 
during  this  century,  being  under  the  control  of  the 
civil  authority.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made 
to  reconcile  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  the 
disputed  points  being:  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  leavened  or  unleavened  bread  in  the  Eucharist, 
and  the  Papal  supremacy. 

The  fierce  and  Avarlike  Pomeranians  were  converted 
to  Christianity  by  Bishop  OthOy  in  the  early  part  of 
the  twelfth  century. 

The  corruption  of  the  clergy  prepared  the  way  for 
sectarianism  in  the  Western  Church.  Early  in  the 
century,  several  teachers  appeared  in  Germany  and 
elsewhere,  denying  the  Church  and  its  sacraments, 
preaching  an  invisible  Church,  and  many  of  the  errors 
of  a  later  age.  They  were  successful  only  for  a  limited 
time.  Some  of  these  preachers  were  charged  with 
self-aggrandizement  and  viciousness  of  life.  One 
Henry  excited  the  people  to  plunder  the  clergy,  and 
worked  much  mischief  in  the  South  of  France,  until 
Saint  Bernard  appeared  as  his  opposer. 


TWELFTH  CENTURY.  91 

Heresies  now  began  to  spread  more  widely  through 
Europe.    They  appeared  under  an  organization  called 
Catharism.    This  followed  in  many  respects  the  orien- 
tal Manicheeism  of  the  third  century  (a  mixture  of 
Christianity  and  heathenism).     In  France  and  G(n-- 
many,  heretics  were  sometimes  burned.    Henry  II.,  of 
England,  would  not  allow  such  persecution,  and  Ber- 
nard   preached    powerfully    against    it.      Catharism 
gained  chiefly  in  the  South  of  France,  where  the  peo- 
ple were  luxurious  and  the  clergy  lax.     The  heretics 
were  organized,  and  at  one  time  had  a  pretended  Pope 
of  their  own  in  Bulgaria.  Eminent  men  of  the  Church 
were  sent  to  confer  with  them  in  1177,  but  with  little 
success.    In  1179,  some  more  forcible  measures  were 
tried,  with  like  result.     The  Catharists  held  the  doc- 
trine of  predestination,   and  denied  the  offices  and 
priesthood  of  the  Church.     They  condemned  the  use 
of  the  cross,  and  insulted  it  as  an  emblem.     For  the 
sacraments,  they  substituted  a  mystical  rite  called  con- 
soJamoitum,  ''  the  true  baptism  of  fire,  which  restored 
to  each  man  his  heavenly  soul  and  the  gift  of  the  con- 
soling Paraclete,"  and  which  atoned  for  all  the  previ- 
ous irregularities  of  life.    They  claimed  there  could  be 
no  salvation  out  of  their  sect. 

The  W  aide  uses,  though  claiming  higher  antiquity, 
Avere  founded  by  Peter  Waldo,  of  Lyons,  in  1170.  Al- 
though very  ignorant,  they  claimed  the  right  to 
preach,  and  called  down  the  anathema  of  the  Pope, 
Lucius  III.  Their  sect  increased  rapidly  in  France 
and  Lombardy.   They  denounced  the  Church,  claimed 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  right  to  ordain,  and  limited  salvation  to  them- 
selves. They  were  greatly  superior  to  the  Catharists, 
and  were  generally  pure  in  their  morality  and  practice. 

The  power  of  the  Popes  was  still  more  exalted  from 
the  time  of  Gregory  YII.  They  usurped  the  author- 
ity of  Metropolitan  Bishops  by  the  appointment  of 
Legates.  They  claimed  that  all  ecclesiastical  power 
resided  in  themselves.  The  Church,  by  degrees,  in- 
vaded the  province  of  the  State,  claiming  jurisdiction 
over  numerous  classes  of  offences.  Discipline  failed, 
and  morality  was  lowered  by  reason  of  Papal  interfe- 
rence with  Episcopal  duties.  Pighting  Bishops  Avere 
the  outcome  of  the  Crusades,  and  were  engaged  in 
other  wars.  In  full  armor  in  the  thick  of  the  fight  one 
day,  they  would  be  arrayed  in  pontificals  and  cele- 
brate mass  the  next.  The  story  is  told  of  Kichard  and 
Philip,  the  Count  Bishop  of  Beauvais,  how  Richard 
took  him  prisoner,  and  on  the  Pope's  interference  sent 
Philip's  coat  of  mail,  saying:  ''  Know  whether  it  be 
thy  son's  coat  or  no!  "  Clerical  celibacy  was  not  ab- 
solutely settled  in  this  century. 

Disputations  took  place  between  the  Cistercians 
and  the  Cluniacs,  championed  relatively  by  Bernard 
and  Peter  the  Venerable,  the  first  blaming  the  latter 
for  their  easy  rules,  rich  clothing  and  elegant 
churches,  while  the  latter  retaliated  by  accusing  the 
other  of  lack  of  charity  and  pleaded  excuses  of  climate 
and  of  discretion.  The  rivalry  proceeded  to  enmity, 
in  which  a  Cistercian  abbey  was  burned  down.  The 
Cistercians  afterwards  degenerated  greatly  from  the 


TWELFTH  CENTURY.  93 

observance  of  their  rigid  rules.  E^early  all  the  monas- 
tic orders  became  corrupt.  They  were  in  constant  dis- 
pute with  the  Bishops,  from  whose  control  the  Popes 
had  in  great  measure  exempted  them. 

In  the  early  Church,  the  term  Sacrament  was  ap- 
plied to  many  religious  rites.  In  the  sixth  century, 
the  Eastern  Church  recognized  six,  and  the  AYestern 
seven,  to  wit : 

Eastern:  Baptism,  Eucharist,  Chrism,  Ordination, 
Rites  for  the  Dead,  Monastic  Profession. 

Western:  Baptism,  Eucharist,  Confirmation,  Ordi- 
nation, Extreme  Unction,  Matrimony,  Penance. 

The  Festival  of  Trinity  Sunday  was  added  in  this 
century.  Extreme  reverence  for  the  Blessed  Virgin 
increased.  The  Festival  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion was  instituted  in  Lyons,  in  1140.  Bernard  and 
others  opposed  the  doctrine,  and  held  that  Christ 
alone  was  conceived  without  sin.  It  was  only  de- 
finitely settled  in  the  Poman  Church  by  Pius  IX.,  in 
1854. 

The  passion  for  relics  increased,  materials  being 
supplied  from  the  Crusades.  The  '^  Holy  Dish  ''  of 
tlie  Last  Supper,  presumably  of  emerald,  though 
really  of  green  glass,  brought  from  Csesarea,  was  re- 
vered by  the  Genoese.  Tlie  "  Handkerchief  ''  of  Saint 
Veronica  (fera  icon),  said  to  have  been  miraculously 
impressed  with  Christ's  countenance,  wlien,  on  His  way 
to  Calvary,  he  wiped  the  sweat  from  His  brow  with 
her  veil,  which  she  offered  Him,  and  to  have  been 
brought  to  Italy  to  cure  the  leprosy  of  Tiberius,  was  ex- 


04  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

hibited  in  Saint  Peter's.  The  "  Holy  Coat  "  ''  without 
seam,  woven  from  the  top  throughout  "  (St.  John  xix., 
23),  claimed  to  have  been  found  by  the  Empress  Helena, 
was  treasured  in  Treves.  The  legend  of  the  eleven 
thousand  virgins,  martyred  for  their  chastity  by  the 
Huns,  sanctified  the  relics  of  their  bones  in  Cologne. 
Pilgrimages  were  rewarded  by  indulgences,  which  the 
people  understood  to  be  forgiveness  of  sins  without  any 
conditions  of  repentance  or  charity. 

Increase  of  learning  and  the  foundation  of  universi- 
ties marked  the  century.  Among  them  were  those  of 
Paris  and  Oxford. 

A  compilation  of  canon  law  was  drawn  up  by  Gra- 
tian,  a  monk  of  Bologna,  and  called  '^  The  Decretum," 
and  of  theology  by  Peter  Lombard,  Bishop  of  Paris, 
and  called  "  The  Sentences." 

In  1198,  Innocent  III.,  a  man  of  high  character 
and  will,  became  Pope.  He  advanced  the  claims  of 
the  Papacy  to  the  greatest  extremes.  He  was  literary 
and  a  lover  of  music.  The  hymns  "  Yeni  Creator '' 
and  "  Stabat  Mater  '^  are  attributed  to  him,  though 
the  first  is  also  ascribed  to  Charlemagne  and  "  seems 
to  be  older  "  (Encyclo.),  while  the  ^^  Stabat  Mater  " 
has  been  assigned  to  Jacopone  in  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury (ihid.).  He  reformed  the  luxury  of  the  Papal 
Court,  and  strengthened  the  political  power  of  the 
Papacy. 

When  Philip,  son  of  Barbarossa,  and  Otho  were 
both  crowned  as  rival  Emperors  in  Germany,  the  Pope 
decided  for  Otho.  This  provoked  a  ten  years'  civil 
war  and  confusion  in  Church  and  State. 


THIRTEENTH  CENTURY. 

The  Pope's  decision  in  favor  of  Otho,  published  at 
Cologne  in  1201,  was  unsuccessful  in  inducing  other 
Kings  to  co-operate  with  him.  Pliilip's  cause  gained 
in  power,  but  he  was  murdered  in  1208.  Otho  was 
crowned  at  Rome  by  Innocent  in  1209.  Immediately, 
notwithstanding  his  pledge  to  respect  the  rights  of  the 
Church,  he  quarrelled  with  the  Pope,  refused  to  pay 
the  usual  donative,  plundered  pilgrims,  and  seized  the 
Pope's  towns.  He  was  anathematized.  Becoming 
personally  unpopular,  he  was  abandoned  by  the  Ger- 
mans, who  received  and  finally  crowned,  as  rival, 
1  rederick  II. 

Philip  II.,  King  of  France  (1180-1223),  married 
Ingeburga,  a  Danish  princess,  but  put  her  away  with- 
out cause  and  married  another  wife.  The  Pope  inter- 
fered, and  on  the  King's  obstinacy  laid  all  France 
under  an  interdict  (1200).  Churches  were  closed, 
and  no  Christian  rites  were  permitted.  This  lasted  for 
seven  months,  when  the  King  relented. 

In  1205,  a  quarrel  arose  between  Innocent  and 
King  John,  of  England,  in  relation  to  the  appointment 
of  an  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Setting  aside  the 
elections  at  Canterbury,  Innocent  held  an  election  in 
Rome,  and  consecrated  Stephen  Langton,  against  the 


96  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

King's  protest.  John  would  not  receive  him,  uttered 
threats  against  the  Pope,  and  plundered  the  monas- 
tery at  Canterbury.  The  Pope  put  England  under  an 
interdict  in  1208.  The  King  retorted  by  banishing 
and  plundering  most  of  the  clergy.  John  was  excom- 
municated, and  his  subjects  released  from  fealty  to 
their  sovereign.  The  King  continued  obstinate,  and 
carried  on  the  war  by  confiscating  the  revenues  of  the 
Church.  The  Pope  at  last  incited  the  French  King  to 
a  descent  on  England,  as  a  kind  of  crusade.  An  inva- 
sion was  organized,  when  John  relented  (1213),  and 
agreed  to  pay  tribute  to  Rome  and  hold  his  kingdom 
in  vassalage  to  the  See  of  Saint  Peter.  The  interdict 
was  then  (1214)  removed. 

In  1215,  the  English  Barons  forced  John  to  sign 
the  Magna  Charta  at  Runnymede.  "  This  established 
the  supremacy  of  the  law  of  England  over  the  will  of 
the  monarch."  (Chambers's  Encyclo.)  It  declared: 
"  The  Church  of  England  shall  be  free,  and  shall  have 
her  liberties  uninjured."    (Robertson.) 

Innocent  incited  a  new  Crusade  against  the  infidels. 
Great  numbers  enlisted.  It  was  determined  first  to  at- 
tack Egypt.  A  contract  was  made  with  the  Venetians 
to  furnish  ships.  In  1201,  the  Crusaders  appeared  at 
Venice,  but  were  unable  to  pay  the  stipulated  price. 
The  Venetians  then,  as  an  equivalent,  persuaded  the 
Crusaders  to  assist  them  in  the  capture  of  Zara,  a 
Christian  city  in  Dalmatia.  This  they  did,  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  Pope's  commands,  and,  in  1203,  sailed 
against  Constantinople,  which  was  also  subdued  by  the 


THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.  97 

allies.  The  rightful  Emperor  was  restored;  but 
hatred  arising  between  the  Greeks  and  Latins,  the 
Latins  next  year  conquered  the  city  for  themselves. 
Great  outrages  were  committed,  and  the  Greek 
churches  plundered.  The  breach  between  the  East- 
ern and  Western  Church  was  widened. 

The  Pope  continued  his  efforts  to  excite  an  expedi- 
tion to  the  Holy  Land.  About  1213,  a  Children's 
Crusade  was  organized  in  Erance.  Some  thirty  thou- 
sand arrived  in  Marseilles  and  sailed  for  the  East. 
Part  were  wrecked,  and  part  sold  into  slavery  by  the 
treacherous  shipmasters. 

The  Waldenses  are  heard  of  occasionally  as  a  weak 
party  in  Erance  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. Their  vernacular  Bibles  were  burned  and  their 
opinions  extinguished.  The  Cathari  were  more  nu- 
merous, especially  in  the  South  of  Erance,  and  were 
persecuted,  and  were  themselves  sometimes  the  perse- 
cutors. The  Pope  sent  Legates  to  dispute  with 
the  heretics,  with  little  success. 

A  crusade  against  heresy  was  proclaimed,  and  an 
army  raised  in  1209.  The  town  of  Beziers  in  Erance 
was  sacked,  and  the  inhabitants  slaughtered.  When 
the  Abbot  Arnold  was  asked  how  the  soldiers  might 
distinguish  Catholics  (who  also  defended  their  city) 
from  heretics,  he  answered:  ^'  Kill  them  all!  the  Lord 
knoweth  them  that  are  His."  Civil  war,  called  theAl- 
bigensian,  followed,  marked  by  bigotry,  intolerance, 
and  great  barbarities  on  both  sides,  with  conspicuous 
breaches  of  faith.     Toulouse,  the  refuge  of  surviving 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

heretics,  was  captured  in  1215.  The  crusade  was  suc- 
cessful in  crushing  heresy,  but  left  a  bad  feeling  on 
account  of  its  cruelties  and  excesses. 

The  new  mendicant  orders  arose  in  the  time  of  In- 
nocent III.,  viz.:  the  Dominicans  and  the  Francis- 
cans, to  combat  heresy  by  preaching  to  the  poor,  which 
bad  been  "  almost  disused  in  the  Church,  while  culti- 
vated by  heretics.''  The  Dominicans  were  severe, 
the  Franciscans  genial. 

KSaint  Dominic^  born  in  1170,  was  a  man  of  pure 
character,  charitable  and  ascetic.  He  founded  a 
preaching  order  in  1206,  choosing  the  rule  of  Saint 
Augustine.  The  order  made  rapid  progress.  The 
friars  dressed  in  white  with  a  black  cloak.  They  had 
no  endowments,  and  professed  absolute  poverty. 
There  were  also  nuns  of  this  order.  Dominic  died  in 
1221,  and  was  canonized  in  1223. 

Saint  Francis,  born  at  Assisi  in  1182,  had  raptures 
and  visions.  He  gave  away  everything  in  charity. 
His  care  of  lepers  extended  to  kissing  their  sores, 
washing  their  feet,  and  consorting  with  them.  He 
assumed  a  condition  of  poverty,  and  founded  an  order 
of  mendicants  about  1210.  The  Pope  made  them  lay 
preachers.  A  sisterhood  of  this  order  was  established 
by  Saint  Clara.  Francis  enjoined  the  strictest  humil- 
ity. They  were  to  be  called  Little  Brethren  (frati- 
celli)  and  Minorites,  as  "  less  than  all  others."  "  Yet 
he  forbade  extreme  austerity."  He  discouraged 
learning,  lest  it  should  minister  to  pride.  His  love  of 
animals  is  illustrated  by  curious  stories.    He  bought  off 


THIKTEENTH   CENTUEY.  99 

lambs  on  the  way  to  slaughter.  He  kept  a  sheep  that 
would  kneel  and  bleat  in  the  service.  He  preached  to 
birds  on  thankfulness  to  their  Creator.  Once  he  was 
interrupted  by  the  chattering  of  swallows,  and  ad- 
dressed them:  "  Sisters,  you  have  spoken  enough  for 
the  present,  and  it  is  my  turn;  be  silent  and  listen  to 
tlie  Word  of  God."  He  spoke  to  fishes,  worms  and 
flowers.  He  called  his  body,  "  Brother  Ass."  He 
Avent  out  fearlessly  to  meet  a  ravenous  wolf,  spoke  to 
him  as  "  Brother  Wolf,"  persuaded  him  of  his  wicked- 
ness and  promised  that  the  citizens  would  support 
him  if  he  would  desist.  The  wolf  put  out  his  paw  into 
the  Saint's  right  hand,  and  went  to  the  town,  where  he 
lived  happily  to  old  age.  Many  miracles  were  attrib- 
uted to  Francis.  He  is  said  to  have  received  the  "  Stig- 
mata," the  Saviour's  Avounds,  in  his  hands  and  feet, 
tlie  flesh  hardening  into  nail  heads  and  points.  The 
order  grew  rapidly  to  over  five  thousand  in  the  first  ten 
years.    He  died  in  1226,  and  was  canonized  in  1228. 

A  great  Council,  called  the  Fourth  Lateran,  was 
held  by  Innocent  III.  in  1215.  It  imposed  Transub- 
stantiation,  and  required  every  one  to  confess  once  a 
year.  Innocent  died  in  1216.  A  review  of  his  char- 
acter shows  him  noble  and  blameless,  wise  and  gentle, 
the  ideal  of  a  Pope.  His  dignity  was  calm,  his  views 
gTand  and  comprehensive.  With  all  his  generosity 
and  amiability,  "  he  was  dreaded  by  all,  above  all  the 
Popes  who  for  many  years  had  gone  before  him."  A 
review  of  the  results  of  his  pontificate  reveals  the 
Papacy  at  its  highest  mark  of  power.     "  Exorbitant 


100  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

pretensions  "  were  met  by  "  humble  deference."  Yet 
his  very  successes  had  in  them  the  seeds  of  a  decline. 
He  set  up  an  Emperor  '^  to  the  detriment  of  his  succes- 
sors. He  founded  the  Latin  power  in  the  East,  only 
for  rapid  decay.  He  exterminated  heretics,  but  left 
a  spirit  of  hatred  in  the  people.  He  instituted  the 
mendicant  orders,  whose  excesses  at  last  brought  on 
the  revolt  of  the  Reformation." 

Honorius  III.  became  Pope  in  1216.  He  projected 
a  Crusade,  to  which  there  was  but  a  feeble  response. 
The  Latin  Empire  of  Constantinople  was  too  weak  to 
aid.  A  considerable  force  was  raised,  sailed  for  Egypt, 
and  besieged  Damietta,  which,  after  sixteen  months, 
was  reduced  in  1219.  Quarrels  among  the  Crusaders 
demoralized  the  army.  They  advanced  against  Cairo, 
but  were  encountered  and  defeated,  and  obliged  to 
make  terms  with  the  Sultan,  who  treated  them  with 
humanity.  Thirty-five  thousand  Christians  perished 
in  this  expedition. 

Frederick  II.,  the  Emperor,  found  that  his  Lom- 
bard cities  were  turbulent.  Milan  rebelled  against 
both  Pope  and  Emperor.  Frederick  was  crowned  at 
Saint  Peter's  in  1220.  He  had  taken  the  Cross,  but 
delayed  the  fulfilment  of  the  vow  under  many  pre- 
texts. His  consequent  quarrels  with  the  Pope  were 
terminated  by  the  death  of  Honorius  in  1227. 

Gregory  IX.,  a  man  of  strong  character  and  pas- 
sions, succeeded.  Frederick  was  fond  of  literature 
and  science,  and  tolerant  in  religion,  but  of  dissolute 
habits,  against  which  the  Pope  remonstrated.     Fred- 


THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.  101 

erick  at  lengtli  sailed  on  the  Crusade  in  1227;  but, 
temporarily  abandoning  tlie  expedition  on  the  plea  of 
sickness,  was  excommunicated  by  the  Pope.  The  peo- 
ple of  Rome  favoured  the  Emperor,  and  drove  the  Pope 
from  their  city.  Frederick  continued  his  enterprise 
the  next  year,  the  Pope  now  opposing  his  expedition 
because  he  was  excommunicate.  He  landed  at  Acre, 
found  the  Moslem  power  weak,  and  made  a  treaty 
with  the  Sultan  in  1229,  by  which  Jerusalem  and 
other  places  were  ceded  to  the  Christians.  He  crowned 
himself  King  of  Jerusalem,  the  clergy  refusing  to 
crown  an  excommunicate  person.  The  Pope  opposed 
him  in  everything,  and  caused  an  invasion  of  his  home 
kingdom.  Frederick  suddenly  returned,  surprised 
his  enemies,  turned  the  feeling  in  his  favour,  and  com- 
pelled the  Pope  to  remove  his  anathemas  and  to  make 
peace  (1230).  The  two  powers,  temporal  and  spir- 
itual, remained  in  agreement  a  while;  but  each  en- 
acted a  code  of  laws  favouring  its  own  supremacy. 
Both  strongly  denounced  the  heretics. 

A  revolt  of  the  Lombard  cities  was  signally  quelled 
by  Frederick  in  1237.  The  Pope's  jealousy  of  the 
Emperor  again  culminated  in  a  violent  excommunica- 
tion in  1239,  for  which  a  variety  of  reasons  were 
given:  breach  of  oaths,  plotted  seditions,  hindering 
travel  to  Rome,  Church  vacancies,  oppression  of  the 
clergy,  plundering  churches,  preventing  the  recovery 
of  the  Holy  Land.  His  subjects  were  released  from 
their  allegiance,  and  his  places  of  residence  were 
cursed.    The  Emperor  justified  himself,  and  appealed 


102  HISTORY   OF  THE  CHURCH. 

to  Christian  princes.  The  Pope  retorted  with  charges 
of  infidelity  against  the  King.  The  Papal  insolence, 
as  well  as  its  late  extreme  assumptions,  caused  popular 
sympathy  for  the  Emperor,  who  entered  Italy  with  an 
army.  The  Pope,  in  alarm,  summoned  a  General 
Council.  The  Emperor's  forces  captured  a  fleet  which 
was  bringing  many  Bishops  and  dignitaries  as  envoys 
to  Rome  (1241).  He  was  advancing  against  the  city 
when  the  Pope  suddenly  died.  The  vacancy  in  the 
Papacy  lasted  about  two  years  by  reason  of  the  dissen- 
sions among  the  Cardinals.  An  irruption  of  the  Tar- 
tar hordes  into  Europe  had  taken  place  in  1226.  Kow 
Erederick  aided  in  their  repulse. 

The  new  Pope,  Innocent  lY.,  was  consecrated  in 
1243.  He  was  arbitrary  and  ambitious,  and  quar- 
relled with  the  Emperor  from  the  first.  Negotiations 
followed.  Innocent,  alarmed  by  an  advance  of  the 
Emperor,  fled  to  Lyons,  where  he  held  a  General 
Council  in  1245,  to  which  the  Emperor  sent  envoys. 
N^umerous  charges  were  made  against  the  Emperor, 
Avho  was  condemned  and  declared  deposed.  He  re- 
sisted. Both  were  violent.  The  Pope  attempted  to  set 
up  rival  Emperors.  There  was  bitter  war.  Innocent 
raised  funds  by  taxing  clerical  property,  and  by  selling 
indulgences.  The  Emperor  failed  in  some  of  his 
campaigns  in  Lombardy.  He  died  in  1250.  The 
Pope  interfered  in  the  succession  against  Conrad,  son 
of  Erederick.    Innocent  died  in  1254. 

In  England,  the  tyranny  of  Rome  was  strong  at  this 
period.    Taxation  was  heavy.    Large  sums  demanded 


THIETEENTH  CENTURY.  103 

for  the  Crusades  were  otherwise  spent,  and  many 
benefices  were  enjoyed  by  non-resident  foreigners. 
Deputations  sent  to  Eome  were  without  result. 

Edmond  Eich  (Saint  Edmond  of  Canterbury), 
made  Archbishop  in  1231,  and  greatly  revered  for 
sanctity  and  learning,  appealed  to  the  Pope  in  his  dif- 
ficulties in  vain.  He  was  canonized  in  1246.  His 
successor,  Boniface,  plundered  the  estates  of  his  see 
and  spent  its  revenues  abroad. 

Robert  Grossetete,  Bishop  of  Lincoln  in  1235,  was 
learned  and  very  zealous.  He  reformed  many  evil 
practices  in  the  discipline  of  the  Church  of  Eome,  and 
employed  the  mendicant  orders  in  reaching  the  poor. 

The  Albigensian  war  again  broke  out  in  the  south 
of  France  in  1216,  with  barbarities  and  breaches  of 
faith.  Louis  YIIL,  Xing  of  France,  went  on  a  Cru- 
sade against  the  heretics,  and  captured  Avignon  in 
1226.  Severe  laws  against  heresy  were  enacted.  The 
Inquisition  was  established  in  1233.  At  first,  it  was 
committed  to  the  Dominicans.  Cruel  practices  caused 
the  people  to  revolt.  The  milder  Franciscans  were 
thereupon  associated  with  the  Dominicans. 

Louis  IX.  (Saint  Louis),  King  of  France  in  1226, 
v/as  noted  for  his  pure,  religious  character,  self- 
denial,  simplicity  of  life,  and  love  of  justice.  He  re- 
stored certain  territories  to  England.  He  built  Sainte 
Chappelle  in  Paris  for  the  "  Crown  of  Thoras."  He 
made  the  clergy  subject  to  the  civil  law.  France  had 
invited  the  Inquisition  when  he  was  but  sixteen,  but 
he  himself  took  no  part  in  persecutions. 


104  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

In  tlie  Holy  Land,  tlie  Templars  and  Hospitallers 
were  often  at  war.  The  invasion  of  the  Mongols,  who 
captured  Jerusalem  in  1244,  occasioned  great  slaugh- 
ter and  violation  of  holy  places.  Europe  was  tired  of 
crusading.  Saint  Louis  took  the  cross  as  a  vow  in 
sickness,  and  set  out  in  1248.  He  rendezvoused  in 
Cyprus.  The  next  year,  he  took  Damietta  in  Egypt. 
He  advanced  toward  Cairo,  but  was  defeated  and 
forced  to  surrender  in  1250.  He  was  greatly  re- 
spected by  his  captors. 

**  Like  some  bright  angel  o'er  the  darkling  scene, 
Through  court  and  camp,  he  holds  his  heavenward  course 
serene." — Keble. 

Ransomed  with  his  companions,  he  went  to  Acre. 
The  Pope,  engaged  in  his  contest  with  the  Emperor, 
was  too  busy  to  care  for  the  capture  of  Louis.  Louis 
returned  to  France  in  1254. 

In  1260,  Europe  was  excited  by  a  fanatical  sect 
called  the  ^'  flagellants,''  bands  of  penitents  parading 
the  streets,  whipping  themselves  in  frenzy  and  shout- 
ing: "  Holy  Lady  Mary,  receive  us  sinners,  and  pray 
Jesus  Christ  to  spare  us." 

Latin  rule  in  Constantinople  lasted  fifty-seven 
years,  when,  in  1261,  the  city  was  reconquered  by  the 
Greeks. 

King  Louis'  saintly  government  founded  the  lib- 
erties of  the  Galilean  Church.  By  force  of  his  per- 
sonal character,  he  resisted  many  of  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  Papacy.    He  incited  a  new  Crusade,  and 


THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.  105 

set  out  ill  1270,  in  spite  of  failing  health,  and  landed 
at  Tunis.  In  an  unhealthy  climate,  fatal  to  many  of 
the  Crusaders,  Saint  Louis  died  August  3,  1270.  The 
crusade,  however,  was  successful  in  making  favourable 
terms  with  the  Sultan. 

After  three  years  of  vacancy  in  the  Papacy,  Greg- 
ory X.  was  consecrated  in  1272.  He  had  been  crusad- 
ing with  Edward  of  England,  at  Acre,  now  the  only 
city  remaining  to  the  Christians.  Gregory  caused 
Kudolph  of  Hapsburg  to  be  crowned  King  of  Ger- 
many. He  endeavoured  to  stir  up  a  new  crusade,  and 
summoned  a  General  Council  at  Lyons  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  also  to  unite  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches. 
It  met  in  1274,  an  imposing  assemblage,  with  Greek 
ambassadors  present.  There  was  a  temporary  recon- 
ciliation of  the  churches,  the  Greeks  acknowledging 
the  Eoman  primacy.  The  Pope  endeavored  to  reform 
the  vicious  lives  of  some  of  the  clergy.  A  canon  was 
passed  as  to  election  of  Popes,  compelling  the  Cardi- 
nals to  a  choice.  Gregory  died  suddenly  in  1276,  and 
his  labours  in  a  great  measure  came  to  naught. 

John  XXL,  Pope  in  1277,  was  killed  by  the  falling 
of  a  tower,  which  he  was  surveying  with  pride,  and 
his  death  was  regarded  as  a  judgment  for  his  dislike 
of  monks. 

Mcholas  III.  was  involved  in  the  intrigues  between 
Eudolph  of  Hapsburg  and  Charles,  the  French  King 
of  Sicily.  Commotions  at  his  death  arose  over  the 
election  of  a  successor.  Martin  IV.,  who  succeeded, 
was  a  tool  of  Charles.    He  quarrelled  with  the  Eastern 


106  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Emperor  and  renewed  the  discord  between  the 
Churches  of  East  and  West;  for  Charles  had  designs 
against  Constantinople  and  was  favoured  by  the  Pope. 
Corrupt  French  rule  in  Italy  permitted  outrages  which 
excited  the  sudden  revolt  of  the  ^'  Sicilian  Vespers  " 
on  Easter  Tuesday,  1282.  As  people  were  going  to 
vespers,  and  others  were  dancing  under  shade  trees, 
an  insult  to  a  high-born  maiden  by  a  French  soldier 
provoked  her  lover  to  kill  him  on  the  spot.  The  in- 
stant cry,  "  Death  to  the  French,"  led  to  a  general 
massacre  of  the  French,  men,  women,  and  children. 
The  fury  was  abated  only  by  the  extermination  of  the 
hated  race  in  Sicily.  The  crown  was  given  by  the 
Sicilians  to  Peter  of  Arragon.  Charles  and  Martin 
both  died  in  1285,  after  the  latter  had  vainly  tried  to 
organize  a  crusade  against  Sicily.  War  resulted  be- 
tween France  and  Spain.  England  mediated  between 
them,  by  a  combat  to  be  fought  between  the  rival 
Kings.  Peter  appeared  in  the  lists  alone  and  claimed 
that  Charles  had  failed  to  meet  him,  and  so  was  certi- 
fied; while  Charles  ^'  on  another  day  went  through  " 
a  like  "  farce,"  "  and  each  declared  the  other  a  dastard 
and  coward." 

The  Papacy  mixed  in  political  intrigues.  The 
Saracens  retook  Acre  in  1291.  The  crusading  spirit 
was  extinguished. 

After  a  vacancy  of  over  two  years,  due  to  the 
Cardinals'  not  agreeing,  one  Peter  of  Murrone,  an 
austere  hermit,  seventy-two  years  old,  was  chosen  and 
consecrated  as  Celestine  Y.     He  was  honest  and  re- 


THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.  107 

tiring,  but  entirely  unfit  for  the  office,  and  became  a 
tool  of  ambitious  men.  After  a  few  months,  he  re- 
signed in  1294.  He  is  stigmatized  in  the  "  Inferno  " 
(III.,  30)  as  the  one,  "  che  fece  per  viltate  il  gran  re- 
fiuto."  He  was  succeeded  by  Boniface  VIII.,  a  crafty 
and  ambitious  man.  He  imprisoned  his  predecessor, 
and,  it  is  even  said,  caused  his  death.  Proud,  imperi- 
ous, and  cruel,  he  mixed  in  political  intrigues,  more 
prince  than  Pope. 

England  and  France  were  at  war  in  1290,  under 
Edward  I.  and  Philip  IV.  (the  Fair).  Both  Kings 
imposed  heavy  taxes  on  the  Church.  Boniface  issued 
a  bull  against  them.  A  compromise  was  at  last  effected 
in  England.  Philip  retorted  on  the  Pope,  by  forbid- 
ding the  exportation  of  gold,  etc.,  from  the  realm, 
thus  largely  reducing  the  Papal  revenue.  Long  argu- 
ments were  had  between  them,  the  King  protesting 
against  Papal  assumptions,  and  declaring  the  rights 
of  the  laity  in  the  Church.  The  Pope  at  length  soft- 
ened his  tone  and  compromised,  being  afraid  of  alien- 
ating France.  Boniface  tried  to  mediate  between 
France  and  England.  IS^either  would  accept  his  official 
authority  to  do  so  as  Pope,  but  only  as  a  private  per- 
son.   Yet  the  Pope  issued  the  decision  as  a  bull. 

In  1300,  Boniface  VIII.  proclaimed  a  Jubilee  Year, 
granting  extraordinary  indulgences  to  all  who  visited 
the  tombs  of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul.  Thousands 
from  all  Latin  Christendom  thronged  into  Rome.  Im- 
mense wealth  flowed  into  the  Papal  coffers.  The  Pope 
assumed  the  crown  and  style  of  a  sovereign,  declaring 
himself  Caesar  and  Emperor. 


108  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHUECH. 

Boniface  interfered  in  1299  between  England  and 
Scotland,  declaring  the  latter  independent,  and  re- 
ferring the  settlement  to  his  court  at  Rome.  Edward 
I.  indignantly  summoned  a  parliament,  which  declared 
that  the  Pope  had  no  right  to  interfere. 

In  the  quarrel  renewed  with  France  in  1301,  the 
Pope  claimed  the  temporal  power.  Insulting  messages 
passed  in  both  directions.  The  King  burned  the  Papal 
bull.  He  called  an  assembly  of  nobles,  clergy,  and 
commons,  who  took  strong  ground  against  the  Pope. 
The  latter  summoned  a  Council,  including  French 
Bishops.  The  King  recalled  them,  and  held  a  second 
assembly,  which  declared  that  Boniface  should  be  tried 
for  sundry  crimes.  The  Pope  excommunicated  the 
King ;  but  his  messengers  were  seized  and  imprisoned. 
He  prepared  a  bull,  deposing  the  King;  but  before  it 
was  published,  Boniface  was  attacked  by  a  small  force 
of  his  personal  enemies  in  Italy,  insulted  and  impris- 
oned. On  the  second  day  he  was  released  by  a  superior 
force  of  his  friends.  His  death  occurred  soon  after,  in 
1303,  some  say  by  poison;  others  that  it  was  in  a 
frenzy.  "No  successor  has  ever  attempted  to  push  the 
power  of  the  Papacy  to  the  extreme  to  which  Boniface 
carried  it. 

Attempts  were  made  in  the  thirteenth  century,  by 
Saint  Louis  and  by  some  of  the  Popes,  to  convert  the 
Asiatic  nations,  with  very  little  success ;  also  to  recon- 
cile the  ITestorian  and  Armenian  with  the  Latin 
Church,  with  like  result. 

Prussia  was  Christianized  in  the  early  part  of  the 


THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.  109 

century,  partly  by  the  employment  of  tlie  military 
orders  with  the  privileges  of  a  Crusade. 

Kussia  suffered  greatly  from  the  Mongols,  who  de- 
stroyed churches  and  murdered  the  clergy.  Innocent 
lY.,  in  this  juncture,  tried  to  unite  the  Kussian  with 
the  Latin  Church,  but  without  success. 

Burning  of  heretics,  opposed  in  the  last  century, 
was  now  justified  by  the  clergy,  as  in  the  interest  of 
religion.  The  Inquisition  was  fully  estabhshed  in 
Spain  in  1248.  Conrad  of  Marburg,  the  cruel  Con- 
fessor of  Saint  Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  was  Inquisitor 
in  Germany.  His  severities  spread  such  terror  that 
he  was  murdered  in  1233. 

Popular  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  was  discouraged 
as  leading  to  heresy.  It  was  forbidden  by  the  Council 
of  Toulouse,  in  1229,  to  have  a  Bible,  especially  in  the 
vernacular. 

In  1233,  the  Stedingers,  a  tribe  of  Frisian  origin, 
were  crusaded  against,  on  a  doubtful  charge  of  heresy, 
and  thousands  of  all  conditions  were  slain. 

Several  fanatical  sects  arose  in  this  age,  and  suffered 
more  or  less  persecution;  among  them,  the  "  Apostoli- 
cals,"  holding  strange  doctrines  and  scandalous  prac- 
tices, were  exterminated  by  a  crusading  force  in  1306. 

The  Popes  in  this  age  exalted  the  spiritual  far  above 
the  regal  power,  and  styled  themselves  "  Vicars  of 

God." 

The  mendicant  orders  interfered  with  the  duties  of 
the  regular  clergy.  They  soon  degenerated  and 
evaded  their  vows  of  simplicity  and  poverty.     They 


110  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

becaaiie  popular  preachers.  The  Franciscans  were 
divided  into  two  parties,  the  strict  and  the  lax. 

Doubts  arose  as  to  Transubstantiation.  The  doc- 
trine led  to  withdrawal  of  the  Cup  and  to  infrequency 
of  communicating.  The  Festival  of  Corpus  Christi 
grew  out  of  the  custom  of  adoring  the  Host,  as  it  was 
carried  through  the  streets.  A  nun  saw  in  a  vision  an 
obscured  moon,  which  signified  that  a  special  feast 
to  honor  the  Lord's  body  was  wanting  in  the  glory  of 
the  Church.  The  vision  came  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  Pope,  and  the  Festival  was  decreed  twenty 
years  after  by  Urban  lY.,  in  1264.  Indulgences 
were  now  doled  out  from  the  "  Treasury  of  Merits," 
which  the  superabundant  virtues  and  denials  of  saints 
had  stored  up  in  the  power  of  the  Popes.  Increased 
veneration  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  invented  the  rosary  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty  beads,  representing  Aves,  divided 
into  fifteen  portions,  with  a  recitation  of  paternoster  be- 
tween each,  accompanied  by  a  meditation  and  con- 
cluded with  the  Creed.  Parodied  Psalters  were 
adapted  to  her  worship,  e.g.,  "  The  Lord  said  unto  Our 
Lady,  sit.  My  Mother,  at  my  right  hand,"  etc.  The 
^'  House  of  Loretto  "  was  supposed  to  be  the  house  of 
the  Holy  Family  at  l^azareth,  carried  to  Loretto  by 
angels.  The  hymns,  "  Dies  Irae  "  of  Thomas  of  Ce- 
lano  and  the  '^  Stabat  Mater  "  of  Jacopone,  are  of  this 
period. 

Architecture  advanced  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  with  the  pointed  arch  as  the  characteristic. 
Gothic  cathedrals  grew  up  in  England,  France,  Spain, 


THIRTEENTH  CENTURY.  Ill 

etc.  Cologne  Cathedral  was  founded  in  1248.  The 
decorative  arts  flourished.  Stained  glass  was  produced 
in  a  perfection  afterwards  lost.  Illuminations,  metal 
work,  etc.,  added  to  the  splendour  of  churches. 

Aristotle,  introduced  through  the  Arabic,  came  to 
be  read  and  appreciated.  Thomas  of  Aquino,  ^^  Doctor 
Angelicus,"  a  Dominican,  was  a  learned  theologian  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  He  was  canonized,  as  was  also 
Bonaventura,  '^  Doctor  Seraphicus,"  a  chief  of  the 
Franciscans,  who  lived  from  1221  to  1274.  Roger 
Bacon,  ^^  Doctor  Mirabilis,''  was  a  Franciscan  friar, 
who  lived  from  1214  to  1292.  He  was  learned  in 
physical  science,  which  caused  him  to  be  accused  of 
magic,  and  imprisoned  by  his  monastic  superiors. 


FOURTEENTH   CENTURY. 

Benedict  XI.,  who  was  Pope  in  1303,  reversed  all 
sentences  against  Philip,  with  other  decrees  of  Boni- 
face. He  died,  it  is  supposed,  by  poison,  in  1304. 
Clement  Y.  was  crowned  Pope  at  Lyons  in  1305.  He 
settled  at  Avignon,  which  for  many  years  became  the 
Papal  headquarters. 

The  Templars  had  gained  great  wealth,  and  enjoyed 
many  privileges.  They  numbered  some  fifteen  thou- 
sand soldiers,  and  had  become  very  corrupt.  They 
were  proud  and  arrogant  towards  authority,  both 
ecclesiastical  and  civil.  Philip  (the  Fair)  became  their 
enemy,  and  arrested  them  on  the  charge  of  heresy. 
They  met  with  vigorous  treatment.  Confessions  were 
forced  from  them  by  torture.  At  one  time,  fifty-four 
were  burned  together.  The  order  was  charged  with 
denying  the  Christian  faith  at  its  initiations,  and  also 
with  many  degrading  ceremonies.  In  England,  the 
Templars  were  more  fairly  treated. 

At  a  Council  held  in  Yienne  in  1311,  a  Bishop 
urged  reforms  in  the  Church,  particularly  as  to  the 
power  of  the  Papacy,  and  desired  the  Eastern  rule  as 
to  allowing  clerical  marriage;  but  the  Council  took 
little  action  to  effect  all  this.  Futile  efforts  were  made 
for  a  Crusade.     Philip  pressed  on  the  Council  thq 


FOURTEENTH  CENTURY.  113 

case  of  the  Templars,  and  at  length,  in  deference  to 
him,  it  declared  the  order  dissolved. 

Clement  quarrelled  with  the  Venetians,  and  issued 
an  outrageous  bull  against  Venice.  Clement  and 
Philip  both  died  in  1314. 

John  XXII.,  who  became  Pope  in  1316,  settled  at 
Avignon.  He  persecuted  sorcerers,  lepers,  and  Jews, 
many  of  whom  were  put  to  death  on  frivolous  charges. 

In  1320,  the  outbreak  of  Pastoureux  started  from 
^N^orthern  France.  It  was  a  repetition  of  a  former  en- 
thusiasm. The  hungry  mob  at  length  numbered  forty 
thousand.  They  were  surrounded  and  destroyed  by 
famine  and  the  sword.  The  Pope  had  serious  quarrels 
with  the  Franciscans,  who  opposed  the  Papal  luxury. 
When  rival  Emperors  were  elected,  and  civil  war  arose, 
the  Pope  did  not  interfere,  until  after  the  victory  of 
Louis  IV.  of  Bavaria,  in  1322,  when  he  asserted  his 
authority  as  judge,  and  condemned  Louis,  who  refused 
to  submit  and  was  placed  under  violent  excommuni- 
cation. A  large  party  of  ecclesiastics  and  others  fa- 
voured the  Emperor.  There  were  antipapal  writings, 
denouncing  the  Papal  usurpations.  Louis  went  to 
Milan,  and  was  crowned.  A  large  number  of  clergy 
supported  him,  in  spite  of  fresh  thunders  from  Avig- 
non in  1328.  The  Pope  was  denounced  in  Kome. 
Nicholas  V.  was  set  up  as  Pope  by  the  Emperor,  both 
of  whom  became  unpopular  at  Rome.  The  Emperor 
returned  to  Germany.  The  Antipope  submitted  to 
the  Pope.  John  XXII.  was  charged  with  heretical 
opinions  in  asserting  "  that  the  saints  would  not  enjoy 


114  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  beatific  vision  until  the  end  of  the  world,  even  the 
Blessed  Virgin  herself  would  until  then  behold  only 
the  humanity  of  her  Son — not  his  Godhead."  ''  He 
was  brought  on  his  death-bed  (1332)  to  profess  the 
current  doctrine  ^  that  purged  souls  being  separate 
from  their  bodies  are  in  Heaven,  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven,  and  Paradise;  that  they  see  God  face  to  face 
and  clearly  behold  the  Divine  essence  in  so  far  as  the 
condition  of  separate  souls  permits.'  "  He  had  cor- 
rui^tly  accumulated  large  treasures. 

Benedict  XII.  became  Pope.  He  was  a  man  of  high 
character,  but  much  under  the  influence  of  the  French 
King.  He  reformed  many  abuses  in  the  Church.  He 
would  have  made  friends  with  Louis  but  for  Philip. 
Great  disputes  arose  between  papalists  and  imperial- 
ists in  Germany,  with  manifestoes  and  denunciations, 
exclusion  of  clergy,  and  confiscations.  Emperor  Louis 
allied  himself  with  Edward  III.  of  England  against 
France.  Benedict  died  in  1342,  and  Avas  succeeded  by 
Clement  VI.  The  lax  morality  of  the  papal  court  at 
Avignon  increased  by  his  example;  and  preferments 
were  given  to  unworthy  men.  The  Pope  renewed 
anathemas  against  the  Emperor  Louis,  and  set  up  a 
rival  Emperor,  Charles  IV.,  who  failed  to  receive  the 
support  of  the  Germans.    Louis  died  in  1347. 

Rienzi  assumed  the  title  of  Tribune  of  Rome  in 
1347. 

The  ''  Black  Death  "  raged  in  Europe  (1347-8)  car- 
rying off  one-quarter  of  the  population.  A  revival  of 
the  flagellants  and  a  persecution  of  the  Jews  accom- 


FOURTEENTH  CENTURY.  115 

panied  it.    Friars  ministered  to  the  sick,  and  obtained 
large  bequests. 

Charles  IV.  was  established  as  Emperor. 
The  Jubilee  of  1350  attracted  an  immense  pilgrim- 
age to  Rome. 

Innocent  IV.,  who  became  Pope  in  1352,  reformed 
abuses,  abated  the  luxury  of  Cardinals  and  prelates, 
and  fortified  the  palace  at  Avignon  against  the  ''  Free 
Companions.'^ 

Urban  V.,  who  succeeded  in  1362,  was  eminent  for 
sanctity  and  leairaing.  His  reforms  abolished  the 
abused  privilege  of  sanctuary  in  Cardinals'  houses, 
appointed  Cardinals  for  merit  alone,  and  eschewed 
nepotism.  His  simple  mode  of  living  enabled  him  to 
lay  out  vast  sums  in  restoration  and  endowment.  He 
put  down  the  Free  Companions.  He  went  to  Rome, 
where  he  spent  three  years  of  peace,  returning  to 
Avignon  just  before  his  death. 

Gregory  XL  was  elected  in  1370.  A  revolt  in  the 
Papal  States  was  put  down  by  a  massacre,  by  order  of 
the  Cardinal-Legate.  Gregory  was  induced  by  the 
disorders  in  Italy,  and  by  the  pleading  of  Saint  Catha- 
rine of  Siena,  to  return  to  Rome  in  1377,  ending  the 
seventy  years  of  the  ''  Babylonish  Captivity."  He 
died  in  1378. 

Great  tumults  arose  over  the  new  election,  the  Ro- 
mans fearing  the  choice  of  a  French  Pope.     Urban 
VL,  a  Neapolitan,  was  chosen.  He  quarrelled  with  the 
Cardinals,  whose  luxury  he  wished  to  reform.     They 
desired  to  return  to  Avignon.     They  finally  rebelled. 


116  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

withdrew,  and  elected  a  new  Pope,  Clement  YII., 
in  1378. 

Tlius  began  the  Great  Schism  in  the  Papacy,  which 
lasted  forty  years.  Europe  Avas  divided.  France  and 
Spain  were  for  Clement;  England,  Germany,  and 
Italy  for  Urban.  Urban  was  passionate,  cruel,  and 
perverse.  He  promoted  unworthy  men,  and  disgusted 
the  Cardinals,  some  of  whom,  conspiring  against  him, 
he  caused  to  be  put  to  death.  He  was  unpopular  at 
Kome.    He  died  in  1389. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Boniface  IX.,  who  was  cor- 
rupt, sold  benefices,  and  used  numerous  exactions  to 
raise  money.  Traffic  in  indulgences  increased.  His 
rival,  Clement,  pursued  a  similar  course.  Fitness  for 
high  offices  was  no  longer  required.  The  English 
clergy  were  indignant  at  these  practices,  and  no  longer 
resorted  to  Rome. 

The  Jubilee  of  1400  brought  great  wealth  to  Rome. 

Efforts  were  made  in  France  to  heal  the  schism.  A 
National  Council  met  in  Paris  in  1398.  Envoys  were 
sent  to  the  successor  of  Clement,  Benedict  XIII.,  at 
Avignon,  to  procure  his  resignation  but  without  ef- 
fect. A  military  force  was  then  sent,  and  the  Pope 
was  besieged  in  the  papal  palace.  After  seven  months, 
he  escaped,  but  in  some  political  complications,  which 
brought  the  national  assembly  to  determine  that 
France  should  return  to  his  obedience,  Benedict  was 
recalled.  More  negotiations  between  the  Popes  proved 
fruitless.  After  the  death  of  Boniface,  a  proposed 
conference  near  Genoa  (between  Benedict  and  a  new 


FOURTEENTH  CENTURY.  117 

Pope,  Gregory  XII.)  was  defeated  by  mutual  distrust. 
Benedict  was  renounced  by  France,  and  fled  from 
Avignon.  The  two  bodies  of  Cardinals  met  in  1408, 
and  appointed  a  Council  to  convene  at  Pisa.  The 
rival  Popes  would  not  attend,  but  held  separate  Coun- 
cils, favouring  no  compromise.  Gregory's  Council  was 
ineffectual,  and  Benedict's  advised  him  to  resign.  The 
Council  of  Pisa  met  in  1409.  Both  Popes  were  con- 
demned, and  declared  deposed.  Alexander  V.  was 
made  Pope. 

The  antipapal  spirit  was  growing  in  England.  John 
Wyclif,  born  about  1324,  defended  Edward  III.  in 
resisting  papal  claims  for  tribute,  in  1366.  He  de- 
nounced the  corruptions  of  the  Papacy.  In  1377,  the 
Pope  issued  bulls  against  him.  He  was  protected  by 
the  people  of  London.  He  attacked  the  abuses  of  the 
mendicant  orders.  He  began  his  English  translation 
of  Holy  Scriptures  in  1380.  He  attacked  the  Eomish 
error  of  Transubstantiation.  Wat  Tyler's  insurrec- 
tion in  1381  was  a  communistic  movement,  unjustly 
charged  to  Wyclif's  agency.  A  Council  of  Bishops 
denounced  Wyclif ;  but  the  reformers  were  supported 
in  Oxford.  After  issuing  many  tracts  against  the 
errors  of  the  papal  system,  "Wyclif  died  in  1384.  His 
opinions  were  in  general  sound,  but  were  mixed  with 
some  speculative  errors.  His  party,  called  the  "  Lol- 
lards," became  fanatical.  Many  denounced  the  min- 
istry and  sacraments.  A  statute  condemning  them  as 
heretics  was  passed  in  1400,  under  which  several 
persons  suffered  death. 


lis  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Several  reformers  sprang  up  in  Prague,  Bohemia, 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century.  Con- 
rad of  Waldhausen  (d.  1369),  Militz  (d.  1374),  Ma- 
thias  (d.  1394),  all  priests,  boldly  denounced  the 
corruptions  of  Rome  in  sermons  and  writings.  The 
relations  of  the  royal  house  of  Bohemia  with  the  Eng- 
lish throne  introduced  the  doctrines  of  Wyclif  into 
Prague.  John  Hus,  born  in  1369,  was  Rector  of  the 
Bohemian  University.  A  man  of  pure  life,  he  re- 
buked the  corruption  of  the  clergy.  He  followed 
Wyclif^s  teaching,  except  as  to  Transubstantiation. 
He  attacked  pretended  miracles.  He  was  supported 
by  Jerome,  a  noble  and  a  layman. 

There  were  several  negotiations  between  the  East- 
ern and  Western  Churches,  with  a  view  to  reunion, 
but  without  result.  Political  considerations  were  in- 
volved, as  the  Eastern  Emperors  sought  aid  against 
the  Turks,  who  were  overrunning  Europe. 

In  this  century,  the  last  heathen  nations  of  Europe 
were  nominally  converted  to  the  Christian  Faith, 
while  Christianity  was  almost  extinguished  by  Mo- 
hammedanism in  Asia.  The  Inquisition  spread  through 
Europe,  except  in  England.  Its  efforts  were  directed 
against  heresy  and  witchcraft,  and  also  against  the 
flagellants,  who  had  many  wild  opinions  and  practices, 
teaching  that  their  self -scourging  was  a  "  baptism  of 
blood,"  superseding  the  baptism  of  the  Church. 
They  fancied  that  the  souls  of  Enoch  and  Elijah  were 
infused  in  those  of  Conrad  Schmidt  and  another,  and 
that  in  1364  Schmidt  was  to  return  to  the  earth  as 


FOURTEENTH  CENTURY.  119 

judge.  The  "  dancing  mania  '^  appeared  in  1374.  It 
was  called  "  Saint  Vitus'  Dance/'  because  to  that 
Church  in  Strasburg  they  were  carried  for  cure.  Men 
and  women  joined  hands  and  leaped  about  until  ex- 
hausted, calling  on  names  of  devils.  In  1399,  ap- 
peared a  set  of  fanatics,  called  ^'  White  Penitents," 
from  their  dress.  They  numbered  from  ten  to  forty 
tliousand.    They  pretended  to  have  special  revelations. 

Mysticism  in  Germany  disparaged  outward  forms. 
A  sect  called  "  Friends  of  God,"  not  in  schism  from 
the  Church,  was  founded  by  I^icholas  of  Basel,  who 
was  burned  in  1393.  Other  teachers  were  Eckart, 
Tauler,  and  Suso.  They  were  somewhat  mystical  and 
extravagant,  but  spiritual  in  their  doctrines  and  aim- 
ing towards  refornis  in  the  Church.  Gerson,  a  scho- 
lastic mystic,  has  by  some  been  credited  with  the 
'^  Imitation  of  Christ,"  a  work  generally  ascribed  to 
Thomas  aKempis. 

Papal  claims  to  taxation  of  English  sees  and  nom- 
ination to  benefices,  as  well  as  the  encroachment  of  ec- 
clesiastical on  civil  courts,  were  successfully  resisted. 
Richard  II.  banished  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury; 
and  his  -successor,  Henry  lY.,  caused  Scrope,  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  to  be  beheaded  for  high  treason,  in 
1405. 

Great  corruptions  arose  in  this  period  from  papal 
gifts  of  pluralities.  A  vacant  see,  and  often  many  of 
them,  would  be  ^'  commended  "  to  the  care  of  an- 
other. Cardinals  and  other  favourites  enjoyed  the 
revenues  of  numerous  sees  and  monasteries.      The 


120  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

clergy  became  lax  in  their  lives.  Cloistered  monks 
neglected  their  vows,  and  no  longer  cultivated  learn- 
ing. The  mendicant  orders  became  wealthy  and  cor- 
rupt. The  Franciscans  were  divided  into  two  jealous 
parties. 

The  Festival  of  Corpus  Christi  was  established. 
The  withdrawal  of  the  cup  from  the  laity  became  gen- 
eral. Indulgences  were  sanctioned  by  papal  authority, 
and  lightly  bestowed.  Excessive  ecclesiastical  cen- 
sures were  disregarded.  The  multiplication  of  saints' 
days  encouraged  idleness  and  debauchery.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  became  almost  universal. 

The  arts  were  further  advanced.  William  of 
Wykeham  spent  lavishly  on  college  architecture. 
The  study  of  Oriental  languages  revived.  Translation 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  was  made  into  modern  tongues. 


FIFTEENTH   CENTURY. 

The  efforts  of  the  Reformers  excited  the  anger  of 
the  clergy.  AVy cliffs  books  were  publicly  burned  in 
1410,  and  Hus  was  excommunicated.  The  people 
supported  him.  In  1412,  Hus  attacked  a  papal  bull 
proclaiming  a  crusade  against  the  King  of  Naples. 
Popular  commotions  showed  the  sentiment  against  the 
bull,  and  were  forbidden.  Three  men  of  Hus'  party 
interrupted  a  preacher  of  indulgences,  giving  him  the 
lie,  and  were  executed.  "  We  are  all  ready  to  do  the 
like,"  was  the  general  voice,  as  the  crowd  dipped  up 
their  blood.  Hus  was  excommunicated  by  a  Council 
at  Rome  in  1413,  and  withdrew  for  a  while  from 
Prague,  but  continued  to  preach  and  write  in  favour 
of  reformation. 

By  the  election  of  Alexander  V.  at  the  Council  of 
Pisa  in  1409,  there  were  now  three  Popes.  Alexander 
favoured  the  friars,  granting  them  clerical  privileges 
to  receive  tithes  and  administer  sacraments.  France 
refused  to  obey  the  bull.  The  Pope  died  at  Bologna 
in  1410,  it  is  said,  by  poison. 

John  XXIII.  was  chosen  in  his  place.  He  was  a 
man  of  shamefully  corrupt  life.  He  encouraged  the 
sale  of  indulgences,  and  was  immoral,  despotic,  and 
cruel.     His  exactions  at  Rome  drove  the  people  into 


122  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

revolt,  and  they  expelled  him  from  tlieir  city  in  1413. 
The  papal  palace  was  plundered.  John  turned  for 
support  to  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  who  summoned  a 
(jcneral  Couitcil  to  meet  at  Constance  in  11:14.  John 
repeated  the  summons.  The  Emperor  invited  the 
rivals,  Gregory  XII.  of  Rome  and  Benedict  XIII.  of 
Avignon.  Numerous  tracts  w^ere  issued  about  this 
time,  declaring  the  corruptions  of  the  Church  and 
strongly  urging  reform.  Intense  interest  was  gen- 
erally felt  in  this  Council.  It  was  not  only  to  heal  the 
great  schism,  but  to  settle  the  question  of  authority 
between  the  Papacy  and  the  Council  of  the  Church. 
There  was  a  large  attendance  of  the  clergy  and  spec- 
tators. John  attended,  and  was  busy  with  intrigues. 
His  rivals  did  not  appear  personally.  The  Council 
opened  November  5,  1414.  The  Emperor  Sigismund 
arrived  on  Christmas.  To  counteract  the  plots  of 
John,  who  had  undue  influence,  it  was  resolved  that 
the  votes  should  be  by  nations.  The  English,  French, 
Germans,  and  Italians  deliberated  separately.  The 
three  Popes  were  asked  to  resign.  John  swore  to  do 
so,  if  his  rivals  would  resign  also.  Finding  the  Council 
against  him,  John  secretly  escaped  from  Constance 
and  continued  his  plots  to  destroy  its  authority.  John 
Gerson,  a  noted  theologian  of  the  University  of  Paris, 
upheld  the  power  of  General  Councils  as  superior  to 
that  of  the  Pope.  He  boldly  declared  this  in  a  sermon 
before  the  Council,  which  supported  his  opinion. 
John  XXIII.  was  arraigned  to  answer  charges,  but 
refused  to  appear.    He  was  condemned,  and  solemnly 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  123 

deposed.  He  afterwards  remained  some  years  a  pris- 
oner at  Heidelbiirg,  and  on  his  release  made  submission 
to  the  next  Pope. 

Hns  had  been  called  by  the  Emperor  to  Constance, 
and  promised  safe  conduct.  He  arrived  before  the 
Emperor,  and  was  treacherously  entrapped  and  im- 
prisoned by  John.  The  Emperor  was  persuaded  to 
leave  him  in  prison.  Charges  against  Hus  were  denied 
or  explained  by  him.  Brought  before  the  Council, 
he  defended  himself.  He  was  condemned  as  holding 
the  opinions  of  Wyclif,  which  had  been  declared 
heretical.  Refusing  to  retract,  he  was  condemned  to 
death.  He  was  degraded  from  the  priesthood,  and 
burned  July  6,  1415.  He  suffered  with  constancy, 
praying  for  his  enemies.  The  bones  of  Wyclif  were 
ordered  to  be  exhumed  and  cast  out  of  consecrated 
ground,  and  afterwards  they  were  burned. 

His  associate,  Jerome,  was  brought  in  chains  to 
Constance.  He  was  cruelly  treated,  and  a  qualified 
recantation  extorted  from  him.  He  defended  himself 
eloquently,  in  a  speech  before  his  judges.  He  was 
condemned  arid  burned,  May  30,  1416. 

Gregory  XII.  of  the  Roman  line,  more  sincerely 
desirous  of  the  peace  of  the  Church  than  his  rival, 
resigned  in  1415.  Benedict  XIII.  was  cited  to  appear, 
but  fled  to  Spain.  He  was  condemned  by  the  Council 
and  deposed  in  1416.  The  Papacy  was  now  vacant. 
The  Emperor,  with  the  English  and  Germans,  wished 
to  have  the  Council  effect  a  reformation  in  the  Church 
before  electing  a  new  Pope ;  but  they  were  overruled. 


124  HISTOr.Y  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 

Representatives  of  the  different  nations  were  associ- 
ated with  the  Cardinals  in  the  election.  On  [NTovember 
11,  1417,  the  J  chose  Otho,  a  layman  of  Rome,  of  the 
noblest  rank,  and  a  man  of  high  and  irreproachable 
character.  He  was  successively  ordained  Deacon, 
Priest,  and  Bishop,  and  then  anointed  and  crowned 
as  Martin  Y.  The  Council  greatly  erred  in  not  carry- 
ing out  proposed  reforms  before  choosing  a  Pope. 
Martin  opposed  changes,  and  succeeded  in  preventing 
them.  In  1418,  he  left  Constance  with  great  pomp 
and  took  up  his  residence  at  Rome. 

Only  slight  reforms  resulted  from  the  Council  of 
Constance.  Rome  had  fallen  into  great  disorders. 
Martin  restored  ruined  churches  and  administered 
justice,  but  did  not  correct  the  abuses  of  the  Papacy. 
The  Papal  encroachments  on  the  liberty  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church  were  resisted  (1419-29). 

There  was  indignation  in  Bohemia  over  the  burning 
of  Hus.  Protests  were  uttered.  A  Papal  legate,  sent 
them,  exasperated  them  further.  They  contended 
for  the  cup  in  the  Holy  Sacrament.  A  communion 
of  forty-two  thousand  Hussites  was  held  in  the  open 
air  at  Tabor  in  14l9.  One  Ziska  became  leader  of  the 
Bohemians,  and  raised  a  body  of  men  to  enforce  his 
doctrines.  The  insurgents  moved  on  Prague,  sacking- 
convents  and  churches.  Ziska  was  an  able  leader, 
with  a  genius  for  war.  He  animated  his  followers  with 
fanatical  fury.  Parties  arose  among  the  Bohemians. 
A  more  extravagant  sect,  called  Picards,  Avas  exter- 
minated in  blood  by  Ziska  in  1421.    Pierce  war  in  Bo- 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY,  125 

hernia  was  marked  by  great  atrocities  and  breaches 
of  faith.  Priests  and  monks  were  tortured,  and  the 
coimtrj  was  ravaged.  Pope  Martin  issued  a  bull  of 
crusade  for  their  destruction.  Sigismund  sent  an 
army  of  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men,  who  were  defeated  with  great  slaughter 
in  1420.  Again,  in  the  following  year,  two  hundred 
thousand  Avere  defeated.  After  continual  victory, 
Ziska  died  of  the  pestilence  in  1424.  Violent  differ- 
ences, and  even  battles,  continued  between  the  extreme 
and  more  moderate  Bohemian  parties;  but  they  united 
against  their  external  enemies.  In  1427,  a  large  army 
sent  against  them,  under  Cardinal  Beaufort,  disgrace- 
fully failed. 

Martin  Y.  died  in  1431,  and  was  succeeded  by  Eu- 
genius  IV.,  who  humiliated  the  Colonnas,  the  late 
Pope's  family.  In  the  further  crusade  against  the 
Bohemians,  in  1431,  ninety  to  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  men  were  routed.  When  the  General  Council 
met  at  Basel,  the  papal  legate  invited  the  Bohemians 
for  discussion.  The  Pope  objected,  but  the  legate 
remonstrated  and  persisted.  The  Council  opened  in 
December,  1431.  The  Pope  did  not  attend,  and  en- 
deavored in  vain  to  postpone  it.  A  solemn  safe-conduct 
being  given  to  the  Hussites,  their  delegates  arrived 
January,  1433.  They  were  respectfully  received. 
Long  discussions  were  held,  generally  in  good  temper. 
A  compact  was  drawn  up,  making  many  concessions, 
including  privilege  of  communion  in  both  kinds.  This 
agreement  was  well  received  by  the  moderates  in  Bo- 


126  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

hernia,  but  rejected  by  the  "  Taborites."  A  fierce  and 
bloody  battle  between  them  broke  the  power  of  the 
Taborites,  May,  1434. 

The  Council  of  Basel  renewed  the  decree  of  Con- 
stance, affirming  the  power  of  Councils  over  Popes. 
It  summoned  Eugenius  to  attend.  He  hesitated,  and 
finally  sent  legates,  who  submitted  to  the  authority  of 
the  Council.  The  Pope,  who  was  unpopular  at  Rome, 
escaped  from  an  insurrection,  and  took  refuge  in 
Florence  in  1434.  The  Council  passed  numerous  de- 
crees, reforming  abuses  in  the  Church  and  abating 
Papal  revenues.  The  Pope,  dissatisfied,  ordered  the 
transfer  of  the  Council  to  Ferrara,  and  opened  a  rival 
Council  there  in  1438.  Mutual  denunciations  passed. 
Eugenius  was  condemned  at  Basel,  and  declared  de- 
posed in  1439.  Felix  Y.  was  set  up  as  Pope,  and 
crowned  in  1440.  His  party  was  weak.  The  Council 
declined  in  numbers,  and  closed  in  1443.  By  the 
Romanists,  this  Council  of  Basel  is  either  only  partially 
accepted  or  wholly  disavowed. 

The  Pope's  Council  at  Ferrara  negotiated  with  the 
Greek  Emperor,  who  was  seeking  aid  against  the  in- 
vasion of  the  Turks.  Projects  for  the  union  of  Chris- 
tendom were  the  excuse  for  transferring  the  Council 
to  a  city  more  accessible  to  the  Greeks.  While  both 
Councils  were  still  in  session,  rival  envoys  were  sent 
to  Constantinople  with  rival  fleets  to  convey  the  dele- 
gates to  each.  The  Pope's  party  succeeded  best,  and 
secured  the  Emperor  (John  Palseologus  II.),  and  the 
Patriarch,  who  embarked  with  a  large  body  of  Bishops 
and  clergy  and  landed  at  Venice  in  1437.    At  Ferrara 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  127 

difficulties  arose  on  account  of  precedence.  The 
Greek  Patriarch  refused  degrading  obeisance  to  the 
Pope. 

Long  discussions  took  place  on  the  doctrines  of  the 

Eastern  and  Western  Churches.  The  points  of  discus-- 
sion  were:  1.  The  Filioque;  2.  Purgatory;  3.  Leavened 
or  unleavened  bread;  4.  The  primacy  of  the  Pope. 
Financial  distresses  gave  rise  to  attempts  of  the  Latins 
to  compel  the  Greeks  to  submission  by  bribery  and  by 
withholding  promised  supplies. 

The  Council  was  transferred  to  Florence  at  the  end 
of  1438.  A  form  of  imion  was  at  last  drawn  up  in 
which  the  Greeks  gave  a  qualified  assent  to  the  Roman 
doctrines,  Mark,  the  Archbishop  of  Ephesus,  alone 
refusing.  Solemn  services  were  held  in  the  Cathedral 
in  1439,  in  honor  of  reunion.  There  was  violent  op- 
position to  the  work  of  the  Council  at  Constantinople, 
in  Russia  and  throughout  the  East,  w^here  the  union 
was  popularly  repudiated. 

In  1443,  Eugenius  lY.  transferred  the  Council  to 
Rome,  where  he  received  deputations  of  the  Armenian 
and  other  Oriental  Churches;  but  the  pretended 
reconciliation  of  Christendom  was  unsubstantial. 

In  1444,  a  crusade  against  the  Turks  was  headed 
by  Ladislaus,  King  of  Poland,  who  Avas  victorious 
over  them  in  Bulgaria.  Ten  years'  peace  was  sworn 
by  both  parties.  Cardinal  Cesarini  broke  the  truce, 
absolved  the  Crusaders  from  their  oath,  and  sent  back 
the  King  with  a  weakened  army  to  battle.  The  Turks, 
reinforced,  were  victorious.  Ten  thousand  Christians 
fell,  and  among  them  Ladislaus  and  Cesarini. 


128  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

Religious  and  political  affairs  were  mixed  together 
in  Bohemia.  As  the  Roman  doctrine  prevailed,  there 
was  a  gradual  decline  of  the  Taborites. 

In  1443,  the  Germans  desired  a  new  General  Coun- 
cil. The  Pope  declined  on  the  ground  that  one  was 
already  sitting  in  Rome.  To  promote  an  understand- 
ing, the  Emperor  Frederick  III.  employed  as  agent 
to  Rome  the  afterwards  noted  ecclesiastic  ^neas 
Sylvius  Piccolomini. 

Eugenius  IV.  died  in  144Y,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Nicholas  v.,  a  man  of  high  character,  and  zealous  for 
the  claims  of  the  Papacy.  The  antipope,  whose  party 
had  greatly  diminished,  resigned ;  and  the  Council  of 
Basel  at  length,  in  1449,  dissolved  itself.  A  revival 
of  letters  now  took  place,  for  ITicholas  was  a  lover  of 
peace  and  a  patron  of  learning.  He  founded  the 
papal  library  in  the  Vatican.  He  encouraged  Valla, 
a  noted  scholar,  who  had  incurred  the  anger  of  the 
Inquisition  by  exposing  the  pretended  "  Donation 
of  Constantine.''  He  encouraged  the  arts  and  re- 
stored churches,  "  renewing  the  splendour  of  his  city 
and  laying  out  the  plan  of  a  new  Saint  Peter's." 
Era  Angelico,  the  artist,  a  Dominican  monk,  paint- 
ed in  the  Vatican.  A  translation  of  the  whole  of 
the  Scriptures  was  "  projected  and  partly  executed." 
The  Jubilee  of  1450  in  this  time  of  security  drew 
vast  numbers  of  pilgrims  and  immense  wealth  to 
Rome. 

In  1452,  Erederick  III.  was  crowned  at  Rome.  It 
was  the  last  Roman  coronation  of  an  Emperor.  Por- 
cara's  conspiracy  against  the  Pope  was  defeated  in 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  129 

1452,  by  the  arrest  and  hanging  of  this  restless  and 
ungrateful  demagogue. 

Meanwhile  the  Turks  were  pressing  their  conquests. 
The  Eastern  Emperor,  Constantino  XIL,  offered  in 
his  distress  to  submit  to  the  Papacy.  Some  of  the 
higher  clergy  consented  also;  but  the  body  of  them, 
as  well  as  the  people,  refused  with  abhorrence.  The 
Turks  besieged  Constantinople,  which  fell  before  their 
assault,  May  24, 1453.  The  Emperor  was  slain.  Saint 
Sophia's  was  profaned  and  turned  into  a  mosque;  but 
some  churches  were  allowed  to  the  conquered  for  a 
while.  Nicholas  took  measures  for  a  crusade,  but  died 
in  1455. 

His  successor,  Calixtus  III.,  urged  the  crusade.  He 
summoned  the  nations,  ordered  the  bells  to  be  rung 
at  noon  for  prayers  for  the  success  of  the  enterprise, 
and  equipped  a  fleet.  Belgrade,  which  was  being  be- 
sieged by  the  Turks  in  1456,  was  delivered  by  an 
undisciplined  but  enthusiastic  force.  The  nations, 
however,  were  apathetic.  The  nepotism  of  Calixtus 
gave  offices  and  power  to  the  Borgias,  under  whom 
Rome  fell  into  great  civil  disorders.  The  Pope  died 
in  1458. 

^neas  Silvius  Piccolomini  was  chosen  Pope  as  Pius 
11.  He  was  noted  less  for  high  character  than  for 
eloquence  and  skill  in  political  intrigue.  He  was  liter- 
ary and  of  simple  habits.  Urgent  for  a  crusade,  he 
summoned  a  congress  of  princes  at  Mantua  in  1459, 
which  was  feebly  attended,  the  princes  being  too  much 
occupied  in  their  own  wars.    In  1461-62,  battles  were 


130  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

fought  between  the  rival  Archbishops  of  Mentz,  aris- 
ing out  of  the  deposition  of  one  of  them  for  appealing 
to  a  General  Council,  which  Pius  had  forbidden  by 
a  bull,  and  the  appointment  of  another,  whose  right 
the  first  contested.  As  this  bull  brought  out  his  own 
inconsistency,  he  issued  another  '^  Bull  of  Retraction  " 
of  his  own  former  acts  at  the  Council  of  Basel  and  else- 
where. In  1461,  great  excitement  was  occasioned, 
Avhen  the  head  of  Saint  Andrew  was  brought  to  Home, 
and  an  immense  concourse  of  pilgrims  gathered  in  its 
honor.  Pius  proposed  a  truce  among  Christian  na- 
tions, and  that  all  should  join  the  crusade.  Venice 
and  Hungary  alone  responded.  The  undisciplined 
forces  that  entered  Italy  were  so  unfit  that  he  sent 
them  home,  or  they  resorted  to  brigandage.  The  Pope 
in  his  last  sickness  went  to  Ancona,  and  died  there  in 
1464.    The  crusade  was  abandoned. 

Paul  11.  was  affected  and  vain,  fond  of  jewelry  and 
display.  He  instituted  the  carnival  and  the  sports  of 
the  Corso.  Contrary  to  his  pledge,  he  was  careless 
about  the  crusade.  He  died  in  1471.  Under  him 
printing  was  introduced  at  Rome. 

The  Moravian  Brethren  originated  about  the  mid- 
dle of  the  century.  They  separated  from  the  Church 
about  1457,  and  set  up  an  independent  ministry,  '^  rest- 
ing its  claims  on  the  personal  piety  of  the  ministers." 

The  Conquest  of  Granada  (1480-92)  drove  the 
Moors  from  Spain. 

Sixtus  ly.  pretended  to  zeal  for  defending  Chris- 
tendom against  the  Turks,  but  was  chiefly  known  for 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  131 

his  excessive  nepotism.  He  advanced  unworthy  rela- 
tives, sold  preferments  openly,  and  imposed  oppressive 
taxation.  He  was  implicated  in  a  conspiracy  to  murder 
the  :Medici  at  Florence.  When  the  murderers  raised 
the  cry  of  liberty  in  the  streets,  the  Florentines  sup- 
ported their  rulers.  The  Pope  interdicted  them,  and 
made  war  against  them,  and  they  were  encouraged 
against  the  Pope  by  the  European  powers. 

The  Turks  captured  Otranto  in  1480.  Sixtus,  in 
alarm  for  Rome,  reconciled  the  Florentines  to  the 
Papacy,  and  they  combined  in  an  expedition  which 
recovered  Otranto  the  next  year.  Sixtus  then  quar- 
relled with  the  Venetians  and  interdicted  their  city. 
They  resisted  the  interdict  successfully;  and  in  vexa- 
tion he  died  in  1484,  execrated  by  his  people.  About 
this  time  the  order  of  Minims  was  founded  by  Francis 
of  Paola. 

Innocent  YIII.  was  of  scandalous  life,  and  sold 
offices  and  pardons  to  enrich  his  children.  Rome  was 
disgraced  by  frequent  crimes.  Innocent,  too,  pro- 
jected a  crusade,  but  without  result.  On  the  death 
of  the  Sultan,  his  sons  quarrelled.  The  yoimger  took 
refuge  with  the  Christians,  and  was  received  with 
honour  at  Rome.  To  propitiate  the  Pope,  the  Sultan 
sent  him  ''the  Sacred  Lance,''  which  pierced  the 
Saviour's  side.  Innocent  YIII.  died  in  1492,  the  year 
of  the  fall  of  Granada  and  of  the  discovery  of  America. 

Alexander  VI.,  one  of  the  Borgia  family,  obtained 
his  elevation  corruptly.  He  was  crafty  and  unscrupu- 
lous, and  openly  licentious.    He  provided  his  children 


132  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

and  relatives  with  Church  and  State  preferments. 
Charles  VIII.  of  France  invaded  Italy,  compelled  a 
treaty  from  the  Pope,  and  temporarily  subjugated 
Naples.  The  Grand  Captain,  Gonsalvo  di  Cordova, 
assisted  the  Neapolitans  and  the  Pope. 

In  1497  occurred  the  murder  of  the  Pope's  eldest 
son,  a  duke.  It  was  attributed  to  the  second  son,  Caesar 
Borgia.  He  was  a  Cardinal,  and  an  ambitious  and 
utterly  unscrupulous  man.  To  free  himself  of  re- 
straint, he  was  divested  of  clerical  orders  at  his  own 
request.  He  went  to  France  on  State  business  with 
extraordinary  pomp.  He  warred  against  the  Italian 
princes  with  energy,  but  with  treachery  and  cruelty. 

The  Pope  treacherously  seized  and  imprisoned  a 
Cardinal  of  the  hated  Orsini  family,  and  caused  him 
to  be  poisoned.  Lucretia  Borgia,  the  Pope's  daughter, 
was  involved  with  her  father  and  brothers  in  infamous 
crimes.  The  papal  court  became  fearfully  degraded. 
All  previous  corruptions  were  exceeded.  Cardinals 
and  others  were  poisoned  for  their  wealth.  Rome 
groaned  under  the  tyranny  and  terrorism  of  Csesar. 
Murders  were  frequent.  Alexander  died  in  1503  by 
poison  prepared  for  another  by  Csesar  or  himself. 

Savonarola  was  born  in  1452.  He  joined  the  Do- 
minicans and  became  a  learned  and  eloquent  man  and 
a  powerful  preacher.  He  denounced  the  corruptions 
of  the  age,  and  urged  men  to  a  spiritual  life.  He  was 
called  to  attend  the  death-bed  of  Lorenzo  de  Medici, 
to  whom  he  had  been  hostile.  With  the  expulsion  of 
the  Medici,  his  influence  at  Florence  became  con- 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  133 

trolling.  He  worked  social  reforms  in  plainer  dress 
of  women,  and  in  attention  to  tlie  serious  duties  of 
religion,  and  checked  the  riotous  games  at  the  carni- 
vals. As  prior,  he  reformed  the  monastery  of  Saint 
Mark's.  As  preacher,  he  denounced  the  vices  of  the 
Roman  Court.  The  Pope,  Alexander  YI.,  in  vain  tried 
to  bribe  him  with  the  Cardinalate.  The  ^^  Bonfire  of 
vanities,"  was  a  pile  of  ornaments,  cards,  loose  books, 
instruments,  paintings,  etc.,  of  the  value  of  over 
twenty  thousand  crowns.  The  articles  were  collected 
by  religious  boys  calling  at  houses  for  people  to  give  up 
their  vanities.  The  whole  was  set  on  fire,  with  hymns 
and  shouts  of  enthusiasm.  He  was  excommunicated 
by  the  Pope,  but  continued  preaching.  The  failure 
of  an  ordeal  by  fire,  to  which  he  had  consented  and 
which  was  prevented  by  a  shower  of  rain,  angered  the 
people  against  him ;  and  he  was  at  length  imprisoned, 
tried  and  condemned,  although  no  heresy  could  be 
charged  against  him.  He  was  burned  at  Florence, 
May  22,  1498. 

In  1478  the  Inquisition  was  established  in  Spain 
by  the  gentle  Isabella  from  pious  motives.  She  was 
influenced  by  her  confessor,  Torquemada,  who  was 
made  Chief  Inquisitor.  It  was  a  State  institution. 
The  members  of  the  Tribunal  were  appointed  by  the 
sovereigns.  All  confiscations  were  to  the  crown.  It 
became  a  terrible  power,  beyond  even  the  control  of 
the  Pope.  Anonymous  accusations  were  received  and 
torture  was  employed.  In  the  first  few  years,  two 
thousand  victims  were  burned  in  Spain.    Its  cruelties 


134  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  terror  caused  tumults  throughout  the  kingdom. 
Alexander  tried  to  sell  exemptions  from  the  Inquisi- 
tion ;  but  the  new  power  was  too  strong  for  him.  The 
Inquisition  persecuted  the  Jews,  and  the  King  ban- 
ished them  in  1492,  causing  great  suffering.  Three 
hundred  thousand  were  expelled.  The  persecution  of 
the  Moors  was  carried  out  through  the  agency  of 
Ximenes,  a  Franciscan  ecclesiastic,  noted  for  his 
austerities  and  fiery  zeal.  He  was  appointed  Arch- 
bishop of  Toledo  and  confessor  to  the  Queen.  He 
reformed  convents  and  gave  large  charities.  He  in- 
sisted on  the  compulsory  baptism  of  the  Moors.  He 
destroyed  all  Arabic  books,  except  medical  works,  and 
burned  five  thousand  copies  of  the  Koran.  In  1502 
he  caused  the  banishment  of  the  Moors  in  spite  of  the 
treaty  at  the  surrender  of  Granada.  The  Inquisition 
in  France  burned  many  for  witchcraft  until  stopped 
by  the  French  parliament  in  1491. 

Several  reformers  arose  in  Germany  in  this  century, 
notably  John  of  Wessel,  who  attacked  papal  abuses 
and  the  faults  of  the  clergy.  He  was  accused  of  heresy 
in  1497.  His  books  were  burned  and  he  was  forced 
to  retract. 

The  monastic  orders  became  very  corrupt,  and  re- 
sisted reform.  Miracles  of  "  bleeding  Hosts  "  were 
alleged  in  1451  to  prove  transubstantiation  and  justify 
the  withdrawing  of  the  cup.  The  increase  of  indul- 
gences came  with  crusades  and  jubilees  and  rebuilding 
of  churches,  and  was  extended  to  the  dead.  Grants  of 
indulgences  were  especially  made  by  Julius  11.  (1503- 


FIFTEENTH  CENTURY.  135 

13)  for  the  building  of  Saint  Peter's.     The  ''  Holy 
House  "  of  Loretto  drew  multitudes  of  pilgrims. 

There  was  a  decadence  of  Gothic  architecture,  yet 
in  this  period  were  built  Saint  Ouen,  the  spire  of  Ant- 
werp, the  central  tower  of  Canterbury  and  the  Chapel 
of  Henry  YII.  The  Italian  "renaissance''  flour- 
ished. The  Cathedral  of  Florence  received  its  mar- 
vellous dome.  Saint  Peter's  was  begun  in  1506. 
Painting  also  flourished.  It  was  the  time  of  Michael 
Angelo  and  Eaphael.  Printing  was  invented.  The 
first  complete  book  was  the  Bible  in  1455.  Cardinal 
Ximenes,  fifty  years  later,  published  his  "  Compluten- 
sian  Polyglott  "  Bible.  A  revival  of  classical  learning 
took  place.  Erasmus,  born  at  Rotterdam  in  1465,  was 
distinguished  for  learning.  For  a  short  time  he  was 
Professor  of  Greek  at  Cambridge.  He  was  the  author 
of  many  works,  in  which  he  attacked  the  faults  and 
superstition  of  the  clergy.  He  published  the  :N'ew 
Testament  in  Greek. 


SIXTEENTH   CENTURY 

Amid  the  tumults  in  Rome  on  the  death  of  Alex- 
ander YL,  the  new  Pope,  Pius  III.,  was  elected  in 
1503  and  lived  only  twenty-six  days,  dying  it  is  said  by 
poison.  Julius  II.,  his  successor,  was  of  somewhat  less 
scandalous  life  than  Alexander,  but  ambitious  and 
mixing  in  political  intrigues.  In  his  quarrels  with 
Prance  and  with  Venice,  he  led  the  army  in  battle  as 
a  General.  There  was  discontent  with  the  Papacy  in 
Germany,  and  a  list  of  "  Gravamina  ''  was  drawn  up. 
There  was  a  revolt  of  ^ye  Cardinals,  which  grew  to 
nine,  three  of  whom,  representing  the  others,  called  a 
General  Council  to  meet  at  Pisa  in  1511.  An  insur- 
rection against  Julius  broke  out  at  Bologna.  The 
Pope  summoned  a  rival  Council  to  meet  in  the  church 
of  Saint  John  Lateran  in  Rome,  and  interdicted  Pisa. 
The  Council  there  was  a  failure.  The  Pope's  Council, 
the  Fifth  Lateran,  was  held  in  1512.  Julius  died  in 
1513. 

He  was  succeeded  by  Leo  X.,  a  man  of  the  world, 
fond  of  display  and  of  luxury.  He  patronized  art. 
In  many  respects  he  was  much  better  than  his  im- 
mediate predecessors.  He  was  noted  for  his  nepotism. 
Leo  made  a  concordat  with  Francis  I.  of  France,  and 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  137 

abolished  the  '^  Pragmatic  Sanction/'  an  agreement 
obtained  by  Saint  Louis  to  secure  the  rights  of  the 
French  Church.  The  French  people  were  indignant, 
but  Francis  forced  submission. 

The  Lateran  Council,  which  had  never  been  largely 
attended,  was  dissolved  in  1517.  Luther  began  his 
movement  in  the  same  year. 

With  the  revival  of  learning  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury came  a  reaction  against  papal  corruptions  among 
thinking  men.  The  idea  grew  that  national  churches 
must  be  distinct.  Many  evils  arose  from  the  loss  of 
organic  unity  and  the  multiplication  of  parties ;  but  the 
primitive  Faith  was  recovered  and  the  spiritual  con- 
dition of  mankind  improved. 

Luther  was  born  in  1183.  He  studied  tlie  Holy 
Scriptures  and  Saint  Augustine,  entered  a  convent, 
and  in  1507  was  ordained  priest.  He  was  appointed 
lecturer  at  AVittenberg,  and  was  earnest  and  eloquent. 
He  went  to  Rome,  and  was  disgusted  by  the  scandals 
at  the  papal  court.  Tetzel,  the  seller  of  indulgences, 
came  to  Germany.  The  story  of  the  nobleman,  who, 
having  no  respect  for  the  system,  bought  beforehand 
an  indulgence  to  commit  an  unspecified  crime  and  re- 
ceived absolution  on  the  payment  of  the  price,  and 
then  waylaid,  robbed,  and  beat  Tetzel,  and  explained 
to  him  that  this  was  the  pardoned  crime,  shows  the 
disgraceful  length  to  which  the  sale  was  carried.  In 
1517  Luther  attacked  the  system,  and  posted  his  pro- 
test on  the  door  of  a  church.  In  1518  he  was  cited  to 
Augsburg  on  the  charge  of  heresy.    He  was  popularly 


138  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

supported.  There  were  violent  discussions.  He  was 
ordered  to  recant  and  escaped.  In  1519  lie  held  a  dis- 
putation with  Doctor  Eck  at  Leipsic.  In  1520  he  was 
excommunicated  by  Pope  Leo.  Luther  burned  the 
bull  and  attacked  the  Papacy  and  priesthood  with 
great  bitterness.  Melanchthon,  a  learned  theologian, 
joined  Luther;  but  urged  the  reform  in  a  milder  and 
more  scholarly  spirit.  He  assisted  Luther  in  translat- 
ing the  Bible.  The  Elector  Frederick  and  other  men 
of  note  were  gained.  Luther  went  under  the  Emper- 
or's safe-conduct  to  the  Diet  of  Worms  in  1521.  Popu- 
lar interest  was  shown  in  his  behalf.  He  refused  to 
recant,  and  was  condemned  by  the  Diet.  He  retired  to 
the  Castle  of  Wartburg,  where  he  remained  secluded 
in  disguise  and  wrote  violent  treatises  against  Monach- 
ism  and  papal  abuses.  It  was  the  scene  of  his  fancied 
conflicts  with  Satan,  in  one  of  which  he  imagined  that 
he  saw  the  evil  one  mocking  him,  when  he  hurled  his 
inkstand  at  him.  On  the  rise  of  ultra-protestants,  pre- 
tending to  inspiration,  denying  the  sacraments,  etc., 
and  when  the  sect  of  the  Anabaptists  began  their  fa- 
naticism, he  returned  to  Wittenberg  to  stop  these  ex- 
travagances. They  broke  out  into  the  Peasants'  War 
in  South  Germany  in  1524  and  1525.  In  the  fanati- 
cism churches  and  convents  were  destroyed.  The 
rebellion  was  extinguished  after  much  bloodshed. 
Some,  who  were  inclined  to  the  Reformation,  were 
disgusted  by  the  conduct  of  the  extremists.  Among 
them  was  Erasmus.  The  term  "  protestant "  arose 
from  the  reformers  protesting  at  the  Second  Diet  of 


SIXTEENTH  CENTUKY.  139 

Spires  in  1529  against  the  threatened  restoration  of  the 
Papacy. 

In  the  disputes  among  the  Protestants,  Luther  op- 
posed Carlstadt,  an  extremist  of  violent  type,  and  also 
Zwingli,  who  denied  the  Body  and  Plood  in  the  Sacra- 
ment. Luther  maintained  the  Peal  Presence.  A 
fruitless  conference  of  the  Protestants  was  held  at 
Marburg  in  1529.  In  1530  the  Diet  of  Augsburg 
met  and  religious  discussions  were  held.  A  confession 
of  faith,  called  the  "  Confession  of  Augsburg,''  was 
presented  by  the  Lutherans  to  Charles  V.  The  com- 
position of  Melanchthon,  it  was  mildly  drawn.  Both 
papists  and  reformers  made  large  concessions,  and 
almost  came  to  an  agreement.  Melanchthon  mshed 
to  preserve  unity  with  the  Church.  A  similar  collo- 
quy, held  at  Ratisbon  in  1541,  was  also  fruitless.  The 
Emperor,  Charles  Y.,  persecuted  the  reforming  party, 
which  was  also  weakened  by  dissensions.  The  papal 
party  was  strengthened  by  the  Council  of  Trent  in 
1545.  Luther  died  in  1546.  A  peace  between  the 
contending  German  States  was  concluded  in  1555,  and 
in  the  next  year  the  disappointed  Emperor  retired  to 
a  convent  in  Spain. 

ZiviiKjU  was  born  in  1484.  He  was  fond  of  the 
classics.  He  had  less  reverence  for  authority  than  for 
private  judgment.  He  was  a  friend  of  the  learned 
Erasmus.  As  preacher  at  Zurich  in  1519,  he  began  to 
declare  congregational  independence  and  to  denounce 
the  Mass.  He  disparaged  the  Sacraments  and  excited 
popular  opposition  to  Indulgences.     He  was  less  vio- 


140  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

lent  than  Lutlier,  but  more  opposed  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  and  was  vehemently  denounced 
by  Luther.  In  a  religious  war  between  the  Cantons, 
Zwingli  took  up  arms,  according  to  the  ancient  custom 
that  the  banner  of  the  Zurich  should  be  borne  by  a 
priest,  and  fell  in  battle  in  1531,  while  acting  as 
chaplain. 

Another  reformer  in  Switzerland  was  CEcolam- 
padius,  who  worked  with  Zwingli  in  1522,  and  dis- 
puted with  Eck  in  1526.  William  Farel,  born  in 
France  in  1489,  aided  the  reform  at  Geneva  and 
Neufchatel  (1530-35)  with  intemperate  zeal.  Churches 
were  sacked  and  altars  insulted.  He  sided  with 
Zwingli  against  Luther.  He  circulated  the  Scriptures 
in  French. 

John  Cahnn  (b.  1509,  d.  1564)  was  studious  and 
severe.  At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  wrote  the 
'^  Institutions  of  the  Christian  Religion."  He  despised 
the  dogmas  of  the  Church  and  undervalued  the  Creeds. 
In  1537,  with  Farel,  he  caused  the  civil  authority  at 
Geneva  to  abjure  the  Church  of  Rome  and  adopt  a 
Presbyterian  form.  He  abolished  fonts  and  festivals. 
He  was  banished  in  1538,  recalled  in  1541,  and  had 
great  influence  as  a  spiritual  ruler.  He  caused  the 
enactment  of  severe  laws  and  burned  Servetus  for 
heresy  in  1553.  He  taught  predestination.  He  was 
"  learned,  eloquent,  fervent,  dogmatic,  and  irritable." 
Reaction  set  in  at  Geneva  under  its  titular  Bishop, 
Francois  de  Sales,  and  Carlo  Borromeo  of  Milan. 

Reform  began  in  France  as  early  as  1512  under 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  14:1 

Lefevre  and  also  under  the  Bishop  of  Meaiix.    It  was 
favoured  by  Margaret,  sister  of  Francis  I.    The  fanati- 
cism of  some  zealots  led  to  the  bloody  massacre  of  the 
Yaudois  of  Provence  in  1545,  and  the  burning  of 
heretics.    The  Bishop  of  Meaux  recanted,  Lefevre  fled, 
while  Erasmus,  being  denounced,  vigorously  and  suc- 
cessfully defended  himself.     The  French  Protestants 
organized  in  1555,  adopting  the  system  of  Calvin,  and 
were  called  Huguenots,  either  from  ''  Eidgenossen," 
i.e.,  confederate,  or  more  probably  from  Huguet,  the 
wild  huntsman,  alluding  to  their  nightly  meetings. 
They  mixed  in  political  affairs  and  roused  civil  wars. 
The  Colloquy,  under  the  royal  sanction,  at  Poissy  in 
1561,  between  Romanists  and  Protestants,  was  with- 
out result.     Civil  war  broke  out  throughout  France 
in  1562,  marked  on  both  sides  by  outrages  and  fanat- 
ical excesses.    In  the  Massacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew 
in  1572,  twenty  thousand  fell.    The  Huguenots  were 
finally  granted  religious  liberty  by  the  Edict  of  :tTantes 

in  1598. 

The  Reformation  spread  through  Prussia  (1522-60), 
also  into  Denmark,  N'orway,  and  Iceland,  where  a 
quasi-Episcopate  was  appointed.  About  the  same 
time  Gustavus  Vasa,  King  of  Sweden,  introduced  re- 
forms, suppressed  monasteries,  and  retained  a  kind  of 
episcopacy.  Protestantism  was  strong  in  Poland  from 
1548  to  1587,  when  Romanism  gained  the  ascendancy, 
partly  through  the  bitter  dissensions  of  the  Swiss  and 
Saxon  schools.  The  Moravians  or  United  Brethren 
of  Bohemia  made  alliance  with  Luther  about  1530. 


142  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

They  were  persecuted  and  subsequently  banislied.  A 
movement  towards  reform  in  Spain  was  caused  by  a  re- 
action against  the  Inquisition  and  the  corruptions  of 
the  Church.  It  was  suppressed  by  Charles  Y.  and  his 
successor,  Philip  II.  (1559).  Many  were  burned,  and 
the  movement  was  entirely  checked  by  1570.  The 
Inquisition  smothered  a  like  attempt  in  Italy.  The 
Reformation  in  Holland  was  in  accordance  with  Cal- 
vinistic  principles. 

X  In  Scotland  the  first  preacher  of  Luther anism  was 
Patrick  Hamilton,  who  was  burned  in  1528.  The 
spread  of  reform  was  opposed  by  persecution  in  1545 
imder  Cardinal  Beatoun.  John  Knox,  born  in  1505, 
was  ordained  priest  in  1530.  Of  a  fiery  and  impulsive 
temper,  he  adopted  reform  principles.  In  1546  Car- 
dinal Beatoun  was  murdered  by  fanatics,  with  whom 
Knox  allied  himself.  Knox  was  dissatisfied  with  the 
Reformation  as  conducted  in  England,  and  rejected  the 
English  ritual.  He  went  to  Geneva  in  Queen  Mary's 
reign  and  adopted  Calvinism.  He  returned  to  Scot- 
land in  1559.  He  was  revolutionary  in  his  ideas, 
both  civil  and  religious.  He  roused  the  people  to  vio- 
lence. Churches  and  monasteries  were  destroyed  in 
civil  war.  Peace  was  obtained  in  1 5  6 0 .  Presbyterian- 
ism  was  adopted  by  the  Scottish  Parliament  in  1562. 

The  Reformation  in  England  was  due  to  the  opposi- 
tion that  the  English  people  had  long  sho^vn  to  papal 
usurpations,  to  the  increase  of  learning  in  the  Univer- 
sities, which  felt  the  influence  of  Erasmus,  and  partly 
to  the  circulation  of  Luther's  publications.    The  Eng- 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  143 

lisli  reformers  asserted  the  national  independence  of 
a  foreign  Bishop,  preserved  the  continuity  of  the  min- 
istry, and  retained  much  of  the  Ancient  Ritual. 

The  Church  of  Rome  was  in  full  power  in  England 
at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.     Henry 
VIII.   wrote  a  treatise   on  the   Sacraments   against 
Luther  and  received  from  Leo  X.  the  title  of  "  De- 
fender of  the  Faith."    AYarham,  a  friend  of  Erasmus, 
was    then    Archbishop    of    Canterbury.       Cardinal 
Wolsey  was  papal  legate.     In  1526  and  1527  Eng- 
land and  France  were  allied  with  the  Pope,  Clement 
YIL,  against  Charles  Y.,  who  sent  an  army  to  Rome, 
sacked  Rome,  and  imprisoned  the  Pope.    Clement  es- 
caped to  Orvieto,  where  the  case  of  Henry  YIII.  was 
brought   before   him.      Henry   YIII.    had   married 
Catherine  of  Aragon,  his  brother's  widow,  in  1509, 
against  the  protest  of  Archbishop  Warham.    The  King- 
subsequently  desiring  a  divorce,  Wolsey  persuaded  the 
Pope  to  grant  a  commission  for  a  trial  in  England.    A 
protracted  trial  was  held.     Before  its  conclusion  the 
Pope  avocated  the  case  to  Rome.    The  indignation  of 
Henry  was  suppressed.    He  revenged  himself  on  Wol- 
sey, whom  he  degraded  in  1529.    He  summoned  Par- 
liament.   The  Reformation  had  already  made  progress 
in  England,  and  they  passed  anti-papal  decrees. 

Cranmer,  a  "  fellow  ''  at  Cambridge,  wrote,  by  com- 
mand of  the  King,  a  treatise,  in  1530,  defending  the 
divorce.  To  this  the  English  and  many  foreign  Uni- 
versities assented,  as  well  as  many  distinguished 
reformers,  who  all  pronounced  the  illegality  of  the 


144  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

marriage,  as  respects  the  Divine  law.  The  English 
nobles  requested  the  Pope  to  annul  the  marriage;  but 
he  answered  evasively.  In  1532  Parliament  made 
laws  restraining  the  payment  of  tributes  to  Rome. 
Fruitless  negotiations  were  carried  on  on  the  part  of 
Henry  with  the  papal  court.  On  the  death  of  War- 
ham,  Cranmer  was  appointed  to  the  primacy  in  1533. 
The  Pope  confirmed  him.  A  private  marriage  of  the 
King  to  Anne  Boleyn  first  took  place  before  the  con- 
secration of  Cranmer.  Parliament  forbade  appeals  to 
Rome.  A  formal  sentence  of  the  King's  divorce  was 
given  by  Cranmer.  The  Pope  annulled  it.  The 
greater  part  of  the  English  clergy  were  now  opposed 
to  the  papal  power  in  England.  Acts  of  Parliament 
completed  the  separation  of  the  English  Church  from 
Rome  in  1534.  Bishop  Fisher  and  Sir  Thomas  More 
refused  assent  to  these  changes,  and  were  executed 
for  treason. 

There  were  at  this  time  a  great  number  of  religious 
houses  in  England,  some  of  which  were  very  corrupt. 
The  monks  and  friars  were  attached  to  the  Papacy  and 
hostile  to  the  policy  of  the  King.  Suppression  of  the 
smaller  houses  began  in  1536.  Their  property  was 
confiscated  to  the  crown.  Wolsey  had  commenced 
such  a  suppression  for  the  benefit  of  colleges.  Henry 
now  continued  it  for  his  own  selfish  ends.  Latimer 
and  others  protested.  Of  the  larger  houses,  some  sur- 
rendered and  the  rest  were  dissolved  by  statute.  These 
acts  were  marked  by  great  cruelty  and  injustice.  Yain 
efforts  were  made  to  save  some  establishments  of  high 


SIXTEENTH  CENTUKY.  145 

character  and  usefulness.  The  Order  of  the  Knights 
of  Saint  John,  which  was  dependent  on  both  Pope  and 
Emperor,  was  dissolved  by  Parliament  in  1540.  Some 
colleges  were  dissolved  also,  and  the  universities  were 
hardly  saved.  Monastic  property  was  largely  wasted 
upon  court  favourites.  A  small  portion  was  given  to 
the  cathedrals  and  to  found  new  sees.  In  this  sup- 
pression churches  were  desecrated  and  valuable  prop- 
erty destroyed.  Its  object  was  plunder,  the  corrupt, 
lives  of  some  of  the  monks  being  only  a  pretext.  It 
was  not  instigated  by  the  Reformers.  Henry,  in  spite 
of  his  enmity  to  the  Pope,  Avas  a  thorough  Romanist 
in  doctrine,  and  favoured  the  full  faith  and  ritual  of 
Rome.  The  German  States  endeavoured  in  vain  to 
attach  him  to  a  Protestant  league,  which  adopted  the 
Confession  of  Augsburg.  The  English  Bishops  were 
evenly  divided  as  to  the  Reformation.  Cranmer 
favoured  it  earnestly  but  temperately.  Tlie  translation 
of  the  Bible  by  the  Bishops  gave  it  to  the  people.  The 
King's  Primer  consisted  of  an  exposition  of  the  Ten 
Commandments  and  the  Creed,  with  a  paraphrase  on 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ave  Maria,  the  Penitential 
Psalms,  a  Litany,  prayers,  and  hymns.  Articles  of 
Faith  were  published  by  the  clergy  and  King,  so 
drawn  that  they  were  accepted  both  by  Romanists  and 
Reformers.  An  explanation  of  the  Creed,  Command- 
ments and  Sacraments,  and  of  the  Clerical  office  was 
issued,  called  the  "  Institution  of  a  Christian  Man." 
In  1537  English  Bibles  were  set  up  in  the  churches. 
In  1538  Lambert  was  burned  by  order  of  the  King 


146  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

for  disputing  the  Corporal  Presence.  Gardiner,  Bish- 
op of  Winchester,  being  at  the  head  of  the  papal  party, 
procured  sundry  laws  against  reform,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  etc.     Cranmer  checked  the  reaction. 

Erasmus  and  other  men  of  note  attempted,  by  medi- 
ation, to  secure  the  unity  of  Christendom.  A  confer- 
ence was  held  by  the  English  divines  with  the  Luther- 
ans, but  without  result.  The  "  Necessary  Doctrine 
and  Erudition  of  a  Christian  Man  "  appeared  as  the 
outcome.  The  English  Litany  was  authorized  in  1544. 
Henry  died  in  1547. 

Edward  VI.  succeeded,  aged  nine  years.  The  Duke 
of  Somerset,  the  Protector,  favoured  the  Reformation, 
but  permitted  some  spoliation  of  the  churches.  Rid- 
ley, Bishop  of  Rochester,  was  a  learned  and  earnest 
reformer,  the  chief  adviser  of  Cranmer,  cautious  and 
conservative,  the  preserver  of  the  Apostolic  Succession. 
Some  among  the  reforming  party  sided  with  the 
Calvinists ;  but  Cranmer's  views  accorded  more  nearly 
with  Luther's  theology.  When  preaching  was  re- 
stricted, the  "  homilies  "  were  published  to  take  the 
place  of  sermons.  Bishops  Bonner  and  Gardiner  of  the 
papal  party  alone  opposed  them,  and  were  imprisoned 
for  a  time. 

In  1548  the  Reformed  Communion  Office  was  set 
forth.  Gardiner  made  opposition,  and  was  again  im- 
prisoned. A  catechism  for  the  young  was  next  set 
forth.  Then  the  complete  Service  Bool',  the  First 
Prayer  Book  of  Edward  YI.,  was  drawn  up  from 
various  uses  in  England  and  adopted  by  Parliament  in 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  147 

1549.  It  was  compiled  bj  Cranmer  and  other  Bishops. 
Some  of  the  Continental  reformers  coming  to  England 
were  well  received  and  appointed  to  lectureships  in  the 
universities.  While  several  foreign  Protestant  min- 
isters with  their  congregations  were  tolerated,  the 
fanatical  sects  of  the  Anabaptists  and  Gospellers  were 
suppressed  by  law. 

Bishop  Bonner,  for  disobedience  in  the  neglect  of 
the  use  of  the  new  Service  Book,  was  deprived  of  his 
bishopric  and  imprisoned.  Gardiner  met  with  a  like 
fate. 

The  Eeformation  of  the  Ordinal  abolished  empty 
pomp  and  acknowledged  only  Three  Orders. 

Hooper,  an  ardent  reformer,  was  consecrated  Bishop 
of  Gloucester.  He  had  resided  in  Switzerland  and 
favored  Zwinglianism.  At  first  he  refused  the  Epis- 
copal vestments,  but  was  brought  to  a  partial  con- 
formity. He  objected  also  to  altars  as  implying  a 
sacrifice. 

A  review  of  the  Prayer  Book  was  called  for,  chiefly 
by  extremists  or  those  leaning  towards  the  views  of 
the  Continental  reformers.  It  was  issued  by  a  com- 
mittee, headed  by  Cranmer,  and  is  known  as  the 
Second  Service  Book  of  Edward  VI.  It  was  author- 
ized in  1552.  In  this  the  opening  sentences,  the  Ex- 
hortation, the  Confession,  and  Absolution  were  added, 
the  Decalogue  was  introduced,  and  slight  changes  were 
made  in  the  Communion  Office.  The  Introits  were 
omitted.  The  ordinal  was  annexed.  Some  ceremonies 
were  dropped,  but  there  was  no  concession  of  Church 


148  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

doctrine.  Revised  articles,  forty-two  in  number,  were 
drawn  up  by  Cranmer  and  others  and  framed  to  coun- 
teract extreme  views  in  opposite  directions.  A  revised 
catechism  was  drawn.  Cranmer  tried  without  success 
to  unite  the  Continental  reformers  with  the  English 
Church.  The  ^'  Reformatio  Legum,"  a  code  of  ec- 
clesiastical doctrine  and  discipline,  was  drawn  up,  but 
not  adopted  at  the  time,  because  of  the  King's  death 
in  1553. 

On  the  failure  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick's  attempt 
to  set  Lady  Jane  Grey  on  the  throne,  Mary,  the 
daughter  of  Henry  YIII.  and  of  Catherine  of  Aragon, 
was  proclaimed  Queen.  She  was  a  Romanist  and  had 
no  sympathy  with  the  Reformation.  Gardiner  was 
released,  reinstated,  and  made  Lord  Chancellor.  War- 
wick was  executed.  Deprived  Bishops  were  restored. 
The  statutes  of  Edward  concerning  religion  were  re- 
pealed. Roman  services  were  replaced.  Some  of  the 
reforming  prelates  fled.  Cranmer  was  advised  to  flee 
and  refused,  and  with  others  was  sent  to  prison.  Many 
thousands  of  priests  and  laity  went  into  exile. 

The  English  people  being  dissatisfied  with  the  pro- 
posed marriage  of  the  Queen  with  Philip,  son  of 
the  Emperor  Charles  Y.,  Wyatt's  rebellion  was 
provoked.  It  was  the  pretext  for  the  execution  of 
Lady  Jane  Grey.  Elizabeth  was  imprisoned  for  a 
time.  Clerical  marriage  was  prohibited  and  married 
prelates  were  deposed.  Numbers  of  the  clergy  were 
deprived. 

In  1554  a  dispute  was  held  at  Oxford  on  the  '^  Cor- 


SIXTEENTH  CENTUEY.  149 

poral  Presence,"  in  which  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Lat- 
imer, though  prisoners,  defended  the  reform  doctrines. 
Their  opponents  were  partial  and  the  conference  tu- 
multuous. The  marriage  of  the  Queen  to  Philip  II. 
of  Spain  took  place.  Cardinal  Pole  came  to  England 
as  papal  legate.  The  kingdom  was  formally  recon- 
ciled to  the  See  of  Rome.  Pole  wished  to  proceed 
mildly  towards  the  reformed,  but  Gardiner  was  severe. 
The  Marian  persecution  lasted  four  years  (1555-58). 
In  all,  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  persons  were  put 
to  death.  The  first  was  Rogers,  a  cheerful  martyr. 
Then  came  Bishops  Hooper,  Sanders,  Taylor,  and  Fer- 
rar.  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer  were  tried  at 
Oxford  and  condemned.  The  last  two  were  burned  at 
the  same  time,  suffering  with  constancy.  Gardiner 
died  immediately  after.  Cranmer  was  degraded  from 
his  office.  In  prison,  under  fear  of  death  and  promises 
of  pardon,  he  was  induced  to  sign  a  recantation;  but 
the  Queen  determined  to  destroy  him.  He  publicly 
withdrew  his  recantation,  denied  the  false  doctrines  of 
Rome,  and  suffered  on  the  site  of  Ridley's  and 
Latimer's  martyrdom,  holding  out  his  offending  hand 
in  the  fire  (1556).  Pole  was  consecrated  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  the  next  day.  He  was  a  conscientious 
Romanist  of  high  personal  character,  and  prevented 
the  introduction  of  the  Jesuits.  He  died  a  few  hours 
after  the  Queen,  in  1558. 

During  the  persecutions  in  England,  refugees  to 
Lutheran  cities  were  severely  treated,  and  sometimes 
expelled.    Great  troubles  arose  at  Frankfort  from  dis- 


150  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

putes  among  themselves,  fomented  by  Knox  and 
others  from  Geneva.  The  English  Prayer  Book  was 
denounced,  and  dissent  from  the  Church  of  England 
encouraged. 

Attempts  at  reform  were  made  by  some  synods  of 
the  Church  of  Eome.  In  the  year  1545  Paul  III. 
summoned  the  Council  of  Trent.  It  declared  the 
Apocryphal  Books  canonical,  and  the  authority  of  tra- 
dition equal  to  that  of  Holy  Scripture.  A  few  abuses 
were  reformed,  but  no  abatement  was  made  in  the 
papal  claims.  The  Council,  which  was  suspended 
four  years  from  the  pestilence  of  1547,  was  resumed 
under  Julius  III.  in  1551.  It  affirmed  Transubstan- 
tiation  and  issued  decrees  on  penance  and  extreme 
unction.  Delegates  from  the  Lutherans  were  allowed 
to. plead  their  cause.  The  Council  was  again  suspended 
in  1552,  and  reopened  by  Pius  TV.  in  1562.  It  con- 
sisted chiefly  of  Italian  and  Spanish  Bishops.  English 
and  Greek  Bishops  were  invited,  but  declined  to  at- 
tend. Important  reforms,  urged  at  the  Council  by  the 
Germans  and  the  French,  were  suppressed  by  papal 
agents.  The  Mass  was  declared  a  propitiatory  sacrifice 
for  the  living  and  the  dead.  Some  reforms  were  made 
indiscipline.  The  Council  closed  in  1563.  Its  decrees 
were  promulgated  by  the  Pope.  A  partial  reform  of 
some  crying  evils  followed  the  Council  of  Trent. 

Ignatius  Loyola  was  born  in  Spain  in  1491  of  a 
noble  family.  In  his  youth  he  was  a  brilliant  soldier. 
Wounded  in  battle  in  1521,  he  devoted  himself  to  a 
religious  and  ascetic  life.     Hanging  his  arms  in  the 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  151 

Benedictine  monastery  of  Montserrat,  lie  began  a  life 
of  excessive  mortifications,  and  had  visions,  in  which 
he  believed  the  deepest  mystery  of  the  faith  was  re- 
vealed to  him.  From  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land 
he  returned  to  his  studies  at  Barcelona.  He  reformed 
a  convent  of  nuns.  He  established  the  order  of  the 
Jesuits,  a  society  of  knights  spiritual,  which  was  ap- 
proved by  Paul  III.  in  1543.  It  required  absolute 
obedience  to  the  General  of  the  Order.  Its  work  was 
mostly  educational.  In  some  measure  it  counteracted 
the  Reformation.  Francis  Xavier,  an  earnest  Jesuit, 
had  wonderful  success  in  missionary  work  in  India 
and  the  East  (1542-52),  both  in  arousing  a  better  spirit 
among  Portuguese  Christians  and  in  converting  na- 
tives of  the  Eastern  shores  and  islands  and  of  Japan. 
An  Italian  Jesuit,  Ricci,  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  had  a  great  but  temporary  success  in  China. 
In  1710  the  Society  of  Jesus  had  twenty  thousand 
members.  It  was  suppressed  between  1761  and  1767 
in  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  elsewhere.  Its  mem- 
bers were  banished  from  Christendom  in  1773  by 
Clement  XIV.  and  restored  by  Pius  VII.  in  1814. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  German  Reformation 
a  set  of  free-thinkers  arose  in  Germany.  Also  the 
Anabaptists,  who  were  ignorant,  impure,  and  de- 
praved, appeared.  They  took  possession  of  Munster 
in  1534,  whence  they  were  finally  ejected  with  great 
slaughter  by  Papists  and  Reformed  working  together. 
They  appeared  in  England  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
in  less  objectionable  form,  and  also  in  Holland  under 


152  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  name  of  Mennonnites.    Unitarianism  or  Socinian- 
ism  grew  up  about  1579,  together  with  several  other 

sects  of  little  importance. 

The  accession  of  Elizaheth,  daughter  of  Anne 
Bolejn,  took  place  in  1558,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five. 
The  Pope  was  offended  at  her  illegitimacy  and  because 
she  was  crowned  without  his  sanction.  Philip  offered 
himself  in  marriage  to  her.  The  Queen  was  in  favour 
of  the  Reformation,  but  was  tolerant  and  wished  to 
mediate  between  religious  parties.  She  proceeded 
with  prudence.  Parliament,  by  act,  restored  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Church  of  England.  Two  Bishops, 
who  threatened  to  excommunicate  the  Queen,  were 
sent  to  the  Tower.  Some  of  the  returned  refugees 
wished  to  abolish  Episcopacy  and  the  rites  of  the 
Church.    Elizabeth  was  conservative. 

In  1559  a  committee  of  clergy  was  appointed  to  re- 
vise the  Prayer  Book.  ]^o  violent  changes  were  made. 
Prayer  for  the  Queen  was  introduced.  The  protesting 
Bishops  were  deprived.  Bonner  and  two  others  were 
imprisoned.  Parker  was  appointed  and  consecrated 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  accepted  with  great 
reluctance.  He  was  consecrated  in  Lambeth  Chapel, 
according  to  the  ritual  of  Edward's  Prayer  Book. 
The  Romanists  attacked  this  act,  and  the  absurd  story 
of  ^'  I^ag's  head  "  was  invented.  The  imprisoned 
Bishops  were  released.  N'one  were  severely  punished. 
Royal  injunctions  respecting  music  and  decency  in 
divine  service  were  issued.  A  great  part  of  the  laity 
of  the  Romish  Church  was  reconciled  to  the  Church 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY.  153 

of  England.     Preliminary  articles  were  agreed  on  by 
the  Bishops,  setting  forth  fundamental  principles  and 
objections  to  the  false  teachings  of  Rome.    A  sermon 
of  Jewel,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  challenging  the  Roman- 
ists to  prove  their  doctrines  led  to  his  dispute  with 
Harding,  a  Divine  of  the  College  of  Louvain.     In 
1559  Pope  Pius  IV.  endeavoured  to  gain  Elizabeth 
to  Rome,  promising  large  concessions.     He  invited 
English  Bishops  to  the  Council  of  Trent.     He  de- 
spatched a  !N^uncio  to  England,  who  was  rejected  and 
not  even  allowed  to  land.    Jewel  was  privately  urged 
to  send  delegates  to  the  Council  of  Trent,  but  refused 
and  justified  the  English  Church  in  refusing.     A  re- 
view of  the  Articles  in  Convocation  resulted  in  the 
XXXIX.  Articles,  drawn  up  chiefly  by  Parker  and 
Jewel.     An  attempt  to  abridge  ceremonies,  dispense 
with  vestments,  etc.,  Avas  defeated.     Jewel  wrote  in 
Latin  his  famous  '^  Apology  for  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land."   It  was  translated  into  English  and  into  numer- 
ous European  languages.    Tlie  "  Genevan  Bible  "  was 
an  English  translation  by  Knox  and  others,  accom- 
panied by  notes  against  Episcopacy.     The  "  Bishop's 
Bible,"  translated  by  the  English  Bishops,  was  made 
in  1562. 

Puritanism  arose  among  the  English  exiles  in  Ger- 
many. On  returning,  they  imported  many  doctrines 
and  opinions  of  the  Protestants.  Some  of  the  English 
clergy,  in  spite  of  the  laws,  refused  to  wear  the  sur- 
plice, and  they  neglected  other  requirements.  They 
also  objected  to  organs,  to  the  Cathedral  service,  to  the 


154  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism,  etc.  The  Archbishop 
tried  to  persuade  them  and  was  tolerant.  The  Queen, 
however,  by  proclamation,  required  uniformity,  and 
some  who  refused  were  suspended  in  1566.  The  Non- 
conformists then  organized  and  separated  from  the 
Church.  They  rejected  the  Liturgy  and  followed 
Genevan  forms.  Episcopacy  was  objected  to,  with 
responses,  festivals.  Lent,  organs,  bowing  at  the  sacred 
name,  the  surplice,  etc.  The  Papists  took  advantage 
of  the  Puritan  troubles  and  raised  a  rebellion  to  en- 
throne Mary  Queen  of  Scots  and  restore  the  Church 
of  Rome.  It  was  suppressed  by  the  dispersion  of  the 
insurgents  without  bloodshed.  On  the  failure  of  this 
project  in  1569  Pius  Y.  fulminated  an  excommuni- 
cation against  Elizabeth  and  all  who  obeyed  her.  The 
thunder  fell  harmless.  Elizabeth  tolerated  all  Roman- 
ists who  were  peaceable.  Thomas  Cartwright,  a  pro- 
fessor at  Cambridge,  was  a  leader  of  the  Puritan 
party.  Inveighing  against  the  Bishops,  he  was  ex- 
pelled from  the  University.  Jewel  and  Whitgift 
defended  the  Church.  The  former  was  a  man  of  high 
gifts  and  blameless  life ;  although  he  has  been  bitterly 
maligned  by  his  enemies,  both  popish  and  puritanical. 
The  ITon-conf ormists  formed  several  sects,  the  most 
radical  of  which  was  the  Brownists.  In  the  Council 
and  in  the  House  of  Commons  non-conformity  had 
friends,  and  many  attempts  were  made  at  laws  favour- 
ing dissent.  A  treatise  concerning  these  schemes 
was  put  forth,  charging  the  Bishops  with  corruption. 
The  authors  were  imprisoned.     Whitgift  held  a  con- 


SIXTEENTH  CENTUKY.  155 

troversy  with  Cartwriglit.  In  1573  tlie  first  Presby- 
terian Congregation  was  formed.  The  acts  of  the 
clergy,  who  refused  to  conform,  excited  the  displeasure 
of  the  Queen,  and  those  having  benefices  were 
deprived. 

Archbishop  Parker  died  in  1577.  His  death  was 
a  public  calamity.  Grindal,  who  succeeded  him,  was 
weak  and  temporizing.  Disobeying  the  royal  com- 
mands to  suppress  illegal  associations,  he  was  sus- 
pended. The  Puritans  published  scurrilous  pamphlets 
against  the  Church  and  the  government.  This  caused 
the  passage  of  severe  laws. 

At  Grindal's  death,  in  1584,  Whitgift  succeeded. 
He  w^as  earnestly  desirous  of  uniformity.  The  Puri- 
tan party  endeavoured  to  frame  a  new  liturgy,  but  could 
not  agree.  Continued  efforts  were  made  on  their  part 
to  overthrow  the  hierarchy.  The  failure  of  the 
^^paiiish  Armada  in  1588  strengthened  the  hold  of  the 
Anglican  Church  upon  the  nation;  but  coarse  attacks 
on  the  Church  and  State  were  secretly  printed  and 
circulated.  Whitgift  obtained  pardon  for  the  guilty 
authors,  who  had  been  fined  and  imprisoned.  Strin- 
gent laws  against  separatists  from  the  Church  were 
enacted.  Some  seditious  persons  were  executed. 
About  this  time  was  published  Hooker's  ^^  Ecdesias- 
tical  Polity/'  a  work  in  defence  of  the  Church  of 
England  against  its  Papal  and  Puritan  enemies,  and 
setting  forth  the  relations  of  Church  and  State,  a  trea- 
tise that  has  secured  the  admiration  of  all  posterity. 

Calvinistic  doctrines  touching  predestination  trou- 


156  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

bled  the  Churcli  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Some,  who  conformed  to  the  Episcopal 
order,  held  them.  Cambridge  University  was  the  cen- 
tre of  this  teaching.  In  1595  the  "  Lambeth  Arti- 
cles," asserting  the  doctrine  of  Election,  were  drawn 
up  for  proposed  acceptance.  The  Queen  opposed 
them.    Elizabeth  died  in  1603. 

The  Reformation  never  took  deep  hold  in  Ireland. 
In  Elizabeth's  time  the  sees  were  partly  filled  by  re- 
formed prelates;  but  the  people  were  ignorant  and 
for  the  most  part  attached  with  bigotry  to  the  Church 
of  Rome. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Elizabeth  was  succeeded  by  James  I.,  already  King 
of  Scotland,  where  Presbyterianism  was  legally  estab- 
lished. All  parties  appealed  to  the  Eng  for  toleration. 
He  determined  to  uphold  the  Church  as  Elizabeth  had 
left  it.  The  Puritans  presented  a  petition  of  griev- 
ances, attacking  the  Church.  The  King  agreed  to  a 
Conference  between  them  and  the  Bishops.  This  Con- 
ference was  held  in  1604  at  Hampton  Court.  The 
old  objections  to  the  Litm-gy,  to  the  sign  of  the  cross, 
to  vestments,  to  the  marriage  ring,  etc.,  were  brought 
up.  The  "  Articles  of  Religion  "  were  attacked,  and  it 
was  sought  to  append  to  them  the  '^  Lambeth  Articles  ' ' 
on  Election ;  but  the  King  was  firm  in  refusal.  A  few 
trifling  changes  were  made  in  the  Prayer  Book;  but 
the  Conference  was  without  result  to  the  Puritans. 
Whitgif t  died  soon  after. 

James  declared  himself  opposed  to  non-conformity, 
either  of  Papist  or  Puritan.  A  Book  of  Canons,  a 
collection  of  ancient  church  laws,  was  drawn  up  in 
1604. 

Bancroft,  who  became  Archbishop  of  Canterbuiy, 
was  zealous  for  conformity.  The  Gunpowder  Plot 
took  place  in  1604.  The  Jesuits  were  considered  the 
instigators.  Their  chief  was  tried  and  executed.  An 
oath  of  allegiance  was  proposed  for  the  Romanists.    It 


158  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

renounced  tlie  papal  power  over  Kings.  Many  loyal 
Romanists  accepted  it.  The  Catechism  was  completed 
by  the  addition  relating  to  the  Sacraments.  The  King 
James^  Translation  of  the  Bible  was  completed  in 
1611  by  a  royal  commission  of  forty-seven  divines 
from  the  two  Universities.  Sectarian  discontent, 
which  was  frequently  shown  in  Parliament,  was 
checked  by  the  King.  James  placed  Bishops  in  Scot- 
land against  the  will  of  the  people. 

Abbot  succeeded  as  Primate  in  1610.  About  1613 
arose  the  Quin Quart ieular  Controversi)  in  Holland 
betAveen  the  Arminians  and  the  Calvinists  concerning 
predestination.  It  aroused  bitter  feeling  and  persecu- 
tion. A  synod  was  held  in  Dort  in  1619.  It  was 
composed  chiefly  of  the  Continental  reformers.  Some 
deputies  were  sent  to  it  from  England  by  King  James. 
The  synod  condemned  Arminianism  and  affirmed  the 
doctrines  of  Calvin.  Disorders  and  intolerance  fol- 
lowed. The  proceedings  were  generally  condemned 
by  the  Church  and  the  King  in  England,  where  doc- 
trinal Calvinism  now  declined,  as  the  intolerant 
spirit  of  the  system  was  apparent.  James,  look- 
ing to  a  Spanish  alliance,  relaxed  the  penal  laws 
against  the  Papists,  although  Archbishop  Abbot 
remonstrated.  A  dispute  was  held  between  Laud  and 
others  and  the  famous  Jesuit  Fisher,  in  which  the 
latter  was  v/orsted.  Montagu,  an  eminent  English 
divine,  defended  the  Church  of  England  against  the 
charge  of  Calvinism,  brought  by  the  Jesuits.  King 
James  died  in  1625. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  159 

The  accession  of  Charles  I.  followed  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five  years.  He  had  l)een  under  the  influence 
of  the  profligate  Duke  of  Buckingham.  He  married 
Henrietta  Maria,  a  French  princess,  devoted  with 
bigotry  to  Romanism.  Parliament  asked  of  the  King 
laws  against  the  Papists.  It  objected  to  Montagu's 
defence  of  the  Church  against  Calvinism  and  de- 
nounced him  and  his  book,  although  sanctioned  by  the 
King  and  a  commission  of  Bishops.  Charles  dismissed 
Parliament  for  its  interference,  but  was  obliged  to  call 
another  to  vote  supplies  for  his  unfortunate  wars  with 
France  and  Spain.  This  also  impeached  Montagu,  and 
was  dissolved  by  the  King.  Archbishop  Abbot  favoured 
the  Puritans  and  was  suspended.  The  King  made  a 
forced  loan.  He  promoted  Montagu  to  a  see.  He 
called  a  third  Parliament,  which  prepared  an  intoler- 
ant remonstrance  against  popery  and  Arminianism, 
of  which  it  accused  the  English  Church.  As  the  King 
was  included  in  its  censure,  he  angrily  dissolved  it. 
Bishop  Laud  was  associated  with  the  King  and  privy 
council  in  the  civil  government.  Charles  was  crowned 
in  Scotland.  He  quarrelled  with  the  Scottish  Parlia- 
ment. 

On  the  death  of  Abbot,  Laud  was  appointed  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  The  Puritans  hated  him,  and 
there  was  mutual  dislike  between  them.  He  was  a 
generous  patron  of  learning  and  strenuous  in  uphold- 
ing the  ceremonies  of  the  Church.  He  maintained 
the  Catholicity  of  the  English  Church  and  would  not 
acknowledge  the  Continental  sects.     He  encouraged 


160  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

tlie  King  to  make  a  ^^  declaration  "  against  tlie  Jiidaical 
observance  of  the  ^^  Sabbath/'  His  enemies  accused 
him  of  leaning  to  Popery.  He  gained  the  popular  ill- 
will  by  some  severe  punishments  of  offenders  against 
the  King  and  the  Church.  Charles  attempted  to  force 
the  use  of  a  liturgy  in  Scotland.  It  was  resisted  by 
mobs.  The  Scottish  Assembly  expelled  the  Bishops. 
Charles  threatened  war  and  negotiated.  For  want  of 
supplies  he  was  forced  to  summon  Parliament.  It 
failed  to  grant  them  and  was  dissolved.  Grants  of 
money  were  made  by  Convocation.  The  advance  of 
the  Scottish  army  compelled  negotiations,  and  in  1640 
the  Long  Parliament  was  called.  They  arrogated  to 
themselves  the  religious  rule  of  the  country  and  cen- 
sured convocation.  Laud  was  impeached  by  the  House 
of  Commons,  and  with  other  Bishops  was  imprisoned. 
Altars  and  pictures  were  ordered  to  be  removed  from 
the  churches.  Petitions  were  presented  and  speeches 
were  made  against  Episcopacy.  An  attempt  by  the 
Commons  to  remove  the  Bishops  from  the  House  of 
Lords  was  defeated.  The  Commons  issued  a  "  protes- 
iatlon,^^  covertly  levelled  at  the  Church,  and  arbitrarily 
required  it  to  be  subscribed  throughout  the  kingdom. 
The  upper  House  rejected  it.  The  enraged  Commons 
impeached  the  whole  Bench  of  Bishops.  Charles  went 
to  Scotland  and  there  made  great  concessions  as  to 
Church  government.  The  Commons  prohibited  bow- 
ing at  the  sacred  name  and  encouraged  preaching 
against  the  Church.  Confusion  entered  into  religious 
worship.      London   mobs   were    excited    against   the 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTUEY.  161 

Bishops  and  presented  petitions  which  were  favourably 
received  by  Parliament,  while  counter-petitions  of  the 
gentry  were  rejected.  Tumults  arose.  The  Bishops, 
insulted  and  excluded  from  Parliament  by  mobs,  pro- 
tested against  the  validity  of  legislation  without  them, 
and  were  imprisoned  by  the  Commons  for  treason. 
Meanwhile  a  bill  for  their  exclusion  from  the  Legis- 
lature was  passed  in  their  absence  and  an  enforced  con- 
sent obtained  from  the  King. 

Preparation  for  civil  war  was  begun.  Parliament 
sought  an  alliance  with  the  Scots,  and  passed  a  bill  to 
abolish  Episcopacy.  A  majority  of  the  House  of 
Lords,  part  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  also  the 
two  Universities,  met  with  the  King,  who  held  his 
court  at  Oxford.  !N"egotiations  were  fruitless.  The 
loyal  clergy  were  deprived  by  Parliament,  which  ap- 
pointed an  "  Assembly  of  Divines  "  as  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal government.  It  was  bitterly  opposed  to  the 
Church.  The  "  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  '^  was 
ordered  by  Parliament  and  the  Assembly  to  be  taken 
throughout  England.  It  established  Presbyterianism 
and  abjured  Episcopacy.  The  King  issued  a  counter- 
proclamation.  The  struggle  between  the  Independ- 
ents and  the  Presbyterians  resulted  in  the  triumph  of 
rhe  latter.  Ordination  was  vested  in  a  Committee  of 
the  Assembly.  "  A  Directory  for  public  worship  " 
took  the  place  of  the  Prayer  Book.  A  fast  was  ap- 
pointed on  Christmas  Day.  Archbishop  Laud  was 
tried  for  treason  on  frivolous  pretences  and  condemned 


162  HISTOKY  OF  THE   CHUKCH. 

through  the  partiality  of  his  judges  and  executed, 
dying  a  true  martyr  to  religion  in  1644. 

After  fruitless  negotiations  at  Uxbridge,  where  the 
Xing  refused  to  sanction  the  abolition  of  Episcopacy, 
being  without  resources,  he  fled  in  disguise  from  Ox- 
ford and  surrendered  himself  to  the  Scottish  army. 
Quarrels  then  arose  between  the  Presbyterian  Parlia- 
ment and  the  Independent  army.  The  Scottish  nation 
was  Presbyterian.  At  this  time  the  King  engaged  in 
a  written  controversy  with  Henderson,  a  noted  Pres- 
byterian minister,  on  the  question  of  his  oath  to  defend 
the  Church.  Parliament  required  the  King  to  declare 
the  abolition  of  Ej^iscopacy  and  the  establishment  of 
the  '^  League  and  Covenant,"  which  he  steadily  re- 
fused. The  King  was  sold  by  the  Scots  to  the  English 
for  £400,000,  paid  as  arrears  to  the  army.  A  chaplain 
was  refused  him.  Parliament  completed  the  subver- 
sion of  the  hierarchy  and  the  alienation  of  its  revenues. 
As  Oxford  was  the  stronghold  of  loyalty  and  of  the 
Church,  proceedings  were  taken  against  it.  Preachers 
were  sent  there,  only  to  show  their  failure.  The 
University  made  its  declaration  against  the  "  League 
and  Covenant,''  and  stubbornly  resisted  the  Parlia- 
mentary attacks.  Tlie  ofiicers  and  professors  were  at 
length  ejected  and  Presbyterian  preachers  substituted. 
The  army  quarrelled  with  Parliament  and  seized  the 
King.  It  was  Independent  and  opposed  Presbyterian 
intolerance.  It  advanced  on  London  and  seized  the 
Tower.  Charles  attempted  to  escape,  but  was  impris- 
oned in  the  Isle  of  Wight.    Parliament  again  proposed 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  163 

terms,  which  the  King  rejected.    Kising  in  the  King's 
favour,  a  Scottish  army  invaded  Enghmd;  but  the  ris- 
ing was  suppressed  by  Cromwell.    In  a  conference  at 
I^ewport,  the  King  refused  to  betray  the  Church  of 
England  and  defended  it  earnestly  against  its  enemies. 
The   army   was   determined   to   establish   a   popular 
government  and  to  crush  everything  in  Church  and 
State    that    opposed    the    Independents.      Disguised 
Jesuits  are  said  to  have  worked  with  them  to  destroy 
the    King.      The    trial    of    Charles    soon    followed, 
and    his    execution    took   place    January    30,    1649. 
Church  and  kingdom  were  overthrown.     Prelacy  was 
proscribed.     Jeremy  Taylor's  fearless  and  temperate 
defence  of  the  Church  was  written  at  this  time.    Par- 
liament granted  liberty  of  worship  to  all  but  Papists 
and  Episcopalians.     The  Independents  prevailed  in 
the    Commonwealth    over    the    Presbyterians.      The 
latter  were  dissatisfied  with  toleration.     There  was  a 
rise  of  fanatical  sects,  such  as  the  Fifth  Monarchy 
men,  who  were  opposed  to  Cromwell  and  engaged  in 
the  strife  for  the  supremacy.    Cromwell's  commission 
of  Triers  to  examine  and  appoint  clergymen  became 
his  inquisitors  to  secure  the  complete  ejectment  of  the 
Episcopal  clergy,  who  were  not  permitted  to  act  even 
as  private  chaplains  or  instructors,  and  great  distress 

ensued. 

In  1660  the  guilty  nation  returned  to  its  allegiance 
in  the  restoration  of  the  Church  and  monarchy.  Tol- 
eration was  offered  to  the  sects.  The  Presbyterians 
opposed  the  Liturgy  and  the  use  of  the  surplice.    They 


164  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

vainly  endeavoured  to  influence  the  King.  Charles  II. 
restored  the  use  of  the  Prayer  Book.  Infidelity  had 
been  fostered  by  the  recent  reign  of  fanaticism.  There 
was  universal  joy  at  the  Restoration  and  at  the  estab- 
lishment of  toleration.  Cathedral  Chapters  were  re- 
stored. Juxon  Avas  made  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
Bishops  were  consecrated  for  the  A^acant  sees.  A 
clamor  was  raised  against  the  restitution  of  Church 
property.  The  Presbyterians  appealed  for  a  modifi- 
cation of  the  Church  and  its  ceremonies.  The  Bishops 
answered  them.  The  King  issued  a  pacific  declara- 
tion, but  made  no  concessions  satisfactory  to  the  discon- 
tented parties.  In  1661  the  outbreak  of  the  ""  Fifth 
Monarchy  men  ''  against  the  government  took  place. 
They  were  religious  fanatics.  It  was  a  small  rebel- 
lion and  soon  quelled. 

Charles  issued  a  commission  for  a  Conference  be- 
tween the  Bishops  and  the  Presbyterians.  This  was 
called  the  "  Savoy  Conference.''  It  was  held  in  1661. 
Baxter  was  among  the  non-conformists.  The  Presby- 
terians asked  to  drop  from  the  Liturgy  all  responsive 
parts  and  to  leave  out  Lent  and  Saints'  Days.  They 
objected  to  the  surplice,  to  kneeling  in  the  com- 
munion, and  to  the  sign  of  the  cross  in  baptism.  They 
asked  for  liberty  to  use  extempore  prayers,  etc.  Bax- 
ter proposed  a  new  prayer  book  of  his  own  composing. 
There  was  no  result  to  the  Conference. 

The  new  Parliament  repealed  the  "  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant "  and  all  acts  passed  during  the  usur- 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.        1^)5 

pation.     The  Bench  of  Bishops  was  re-established  in 
Parliament. 

A  review  of  the  Prayer  Book  was  commanded  hy 
the  King  in  1661.  This  is  the  ''  Last  Review."  l^o 
changes  in  the  services  were  made,  except  in  the 
addition  of  a  few  Collects  and  minor  offices.  The 
Epistles  and  Gospels  were  taken  from  the  New  Trans- 
lation. A  few  slight  alterations  were  made  in  the 
rubrics.  The  Book  was  approved  in  1662.  An  Act 
of  Uniformity  was  passed,  resulting  in  the  ejectment 
of  non-conformists,  who  made  great  complaint.  The 
Act  came  from  the  House  of  Commons.  Many  good 
men  conformed.  Others  raised  the  cry  of  martyrdom, 
to  which  they  had  no  title,  since  they  were  intruders 
at  the  ejection  of  Church  clergy. 

The  King  determined  to  establish  the  Church  in 
Scotland.  Sharp,  formerly  a  friend  to  the  Presby- 
terian interest,  was  made  Primate  of  Scotland.  Other 
Bishops  were  consecrated.  The  Presbyterians  made 
great  opposition.  Harsh  measures  were  used  against 
them.  Their  clergy  were  ejected.  Sharp  acquired 
general  hatred. 

The  Church  in  Ireland  had  been  supplanted  by 
Covenanters  and  Independents  through  the  military 
despotism  of  Cromwell.  Bramhall,  a  man  of  high 
character,  was  made  Primate,  and  Jeremy  Taylor  was 
made  a  Bishop. 

The  King  in  his  desire  to  favor  the  Romanists  was 
inclined  to  abate  the  rigor  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity, 
but  was  not  supported  by  Parliament. 


166  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

In  the  Great  Plague  of  1665,  Arclibisliop  Sheldon 
and  the  clergy  generally  were  active  in  aiding  the 
sufferers. 

In  the  war  with  Holland  a  conspiracy  of  the  Level- 
lers was  encouraged  by  the  treachery  of  the  Presby- 
terian party.  It  was  suppressed  by  a  severe  law,  called 
the  ''  Five  Mile  Act." 

The  Great  Fire  of  London,  which  broke  out  in  1666, 
was  charged  on  the  Papists. 

The  licentious  court  of  Charles  11.  was  rebuked  by 
Sheldon,  the  Archbishop,  and  by  Clarendon,  the 
Prime  Minister,  whose  boldness  caused  his  fall. 

An  attempt  made  by  Bishop  Wilkins  and  Sir  Mat- 
thew Hale  to  compromise  with  the  non-conformists 
and  receive  them  into  the  Church  was  frustrated  in 
Parliament  and  only  occasioned  further  severe  laws 
against  the  Dissenters.  These  were  the  act  of  the 
Legislature  and  not  of  the  Church,  a  reaction  against 
the  Puritanism  of  the  late  Interregnum.  The  King 
encouraged  the  suppression  of  conventicles  for  the 
sake  of  favouring  Romanism,  towards  which  he  leaned, 
but  which  he  had  not  the  manliness  to  avow.  He  then 
suddenly  and  arbitrarily  issued  a  declaration  of  indul- 
gence, subverting  the  recent  laws  and  even  granting 
pensions  to  dissenting  preachers.  Churchmen  were 
indignant  at  his  vacillating  policy  and  suspicious  of 
its  motive.  The  Commons  refused  supplies  and  com- 
pelled the  King  to  retract  his  declaration.  In  fear  of 
the  King's  designs,  the  "  Test  Act "  was  passed,  pre- 
venting Romanists  from  holding  places  of  high  trust, 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  167 

It  was  followed  by  struggles  between  the  King  and 
Parliament. 

The  '^  Gates  plot  "  excitement  arose  in  1678,  started 
by  the  revelation  of  a  supposed  Popish  conspiracy, 
discovered  by  Titus  Gates.  The  country  was  divided 
into  two  political  parties ;  the  Whigs,  who  upheld  the 
law,  and  the  Tories,  who  supported  the  sovereign. 
There  was  strong  party  feeling,  religious  and  political. 
The  Duke  of  York,  the  King's  brother  and  heir  to  the 
throne,  was  a  Papist;  and  great  efforts  were  made  to 
exclude  him  from  the  succession.  The  "  Rye  house  " 
plot,  real  or  supposed,  was  a  scheme  to  assassinate  the 
King.  Charles  died  in  1685,  refusing  the  ministra- 
tions of  the  Bishops  and  accepting  the  Sacraments 
from  a  Romish  priest. 

The  Duke  of  York  came  to  the  throne  as  James  II., 
with  a  public  declaration  of  his  determination  to  up- 
hold the  Church ;  but  soon  he  showed  his  insincerity. 
Parliament  enforced  the  old  laws  against  dissenters, 
and  Baxter  was  heavily  fined.  The  rebellion  of  Mon- 
mouth, the  natural  son  of  Charles  II.,  and  of  Argyle 
in  Scotland  was  supported  by  those  disaffected  against 
the  Church  and  monarchy.  The  movement  was  soon 
suppressed  and  its  authors  executed.  The  harsh 
measures  of  James  were  carried  out  by  his  tool,  Jef- 
freys, whom  he  made  Lord  Chamberlain.  The  King 
endeavoured  to  advance  the  cause  of  Romanism.  He 
disregarded  the  Test  Act  and  attempted  to  fill  the 
army  with  Popish  officers.  lilTumerous  converts  ad- 
hered to  Romanism  through  interest. 


168  HISTOEY  OF  THE  CHUKCH. 

At  this  time  tlie  Protestant  Cause  was  injured  on 
the  Continent  by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  l^antes 
in  1685.  James  continued  his  movement  towards 
arbitrary  power  and  the  establishment  of  the  Romish 
Church  in  England.  He  quarrelled  with  Parliament, 
which  refused  to  abolish  the  Test  Act.  Determined 
arbitrarily  to  override  the  laws  against  Popery,  he 
forbade  the  clergy  to  preach  against  it.  They  issued 
numerous  polemical  tracts.  The  King,  angry  with  the 
Church,  courted  the  dissenters  and  desired  to  intro- 
duce Popery  under  the  cover  of  universal  toleration. 
In  defiance  of  old  statutes,  he  introduced  and  set  up 
a  Court  of  Ecclesiastical  Commission  to  govern  the 
Church,  with  the  infamous  Jeffreys  at  the  head.  It 
suspended  the  Bishop  of  London  for  refusing  to  sus- 
pend a  vicar,  who  preached  against  Popery.  Plotting 
the  complete  subversion  of  the  liberties  of  the  English 
Church,  James  appointed  Bishops  to  the  vacant  sees 
of  Oxford  and  Chester  in  his  own  interest.  He  issued 
a  declaration  of  general  religious  toleration,  assuming 
a  regal  power  to  annul  all  Test  Acts  and  other  such 
laws  without  the  concurrence  of  Parliament.  Dis- 
senters were  suspicious,  and  Churchmen  saw  the 
King's  determination  to  level  the  Church.  He  then 
attacked  the  Universities,  and  appointed  a  Popish 
Bishop  president  of  a  college  in  Oxford,  but  was  stout- 
ly resisted,  though  in  vain.  He  made  overtures  for 
restoring  all  England  to  the  Pope,  who  sent  over  a 
IN^uncio.     He  endeavoured  without  effect  to  win  over 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTUKY.  169 

his  daughter  Mary,  the  Princess  of  Orange.  James 
issued  a  second  declaration  and  ordered  it  read  in  the 
churches.  Sancroft,  the  Primate,  and  six  other 
Bishops  petitioned  against  it.  Most  of  the  clergy  re- 
fused to  read  it.  The  seven  Bishops  were  sent  to  the 
Tower.  Popular  indignation  rose  at  the  arbitrary  act. 
They  were  tried  at  Westminster  Hall  and  acquitted 
amid  universal  rejoicing  and  to  the  discomfiture  of 
the  King.  In  the  wide  national  discontent,  overtures 
were  made  to  William  of  Orange,  the  son  of  Mary 
(daughter  of  Charles  I.)  and  husband  of  his  cousin 
Mary,  daughter  of  James  II.  William  prepared  an 
expedition  against  England.  James  in  alarm  sent  for 
the  Bishops.  They  freely  offered  their  advice,  which 
he  felt  forced  to  accept.  He  annulled  many  of  his 
late  illegal  decrees.  It  was  too  late.  He  had  forfeited 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  people. 

The  Prince  of  Orange  landed  at  Torbay,  ISTovember 
5,  1688.  James,  deserted  by  his  army,  could  make 
no  opposition.  He  abandoned  his  kingdom  and  es- 
caped to  France.  The  Prince  came  to  London,  where 
he  was  favourably  but  not  enthusiastically  received. 
He  summoned  a  convention  of  former  members  of 
Parliament.  They  conferred  the  crown  on  William 
and  Mary  in  1689.  An  Act  of  Toleration  was  passed, 
permitting  freedom  of  worship  to  dissenters;  but  the 
Test  Act  was  retained.  ISTine  Bishops  refused  the 
oaths  to  the  Xew  Sovereign.  Hence  they  were  called 
the  non-jurors.    Five  of  these  were  among  those  who 


170  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

had  been  imprisoned  by  James.  The  saintly  Ken  was 
one  of  the  non- jurors.  They,  with  four  hundred  of  the 
clergy,  formed  a  separate  Church  organization,  which 
proved  weak  and  disappeared  about  the  close  of  the 
century. 


EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

A  KEiJGious  decline  set  in  in  England  during  this 
century,  which  was  marked  also  by  the  awakening  by 
Wesley  and  Whitfield,  the  founders  of  Methodism. 

During  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary  in  1697,  a 
royal  grant  was  made  of  the  church  and  churchyard 
to  Trinity  parish,  New  York.  In  1705,  in  Queen 
Anne's  reign,  a  grant  was  made  to  the  same  parish 
of  the  ''  Queen's  farm,"  a  tract  on  the  west  of  the 
island,  between  Vesey  and  Christopher  Streets.  Doc- 
tor Vesey  was  rector  for  fifty  years.  His  assistants  in 
orders  laboured  as  catechists  among  the  blacks.  Saint 
George's,  a  chapel  of  Trinity,  was  opened  in  1752. 
Saint  Paul's  was  built  in  1763-66.  Trinity  Church, 
with  Rectory  and  Charity  School,  was  burned  in  1766 
and  rebuilt  in  1788.  The  chimes  were  set  up  in  1797. 
The  present  edifice  was  erected  in  1839-46. 

Seabury,  the  first  American  Bishop,  was  consecrated 
by  three  Scotch  Bishops  in  1784.  English  Bishops 
could  not  consecrate  but  with  an  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  English  crown.  Three  years  later,  this  objection 
having  been  removed.  Doctors  White  and  Provoost 
were  consecrated  at  Lambeth.  The  American  revi- 
sion of  the  Prayer  Book  was  adopted  in  1789. 


NINETEENTH  CENTUEY. 

The  Oxford  Tract  Movement  began  in  England  in 
1838  and  was  followed  by  a  revival  of  Cliurcli  life. 
In  the  recent  movement  for  building  and  restoring 
churches,  £30,000,000  have  been  contributed  in  thirty 
years,  as  well  as  money  for  charitable  and  missionary 
enterprises. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  EVENTS. 


FIEST  CENTUEY. 

A.D. 

50.     First  Apostolic  Council. 
50-3.     Christianity  introduced  into  Europe. 
63-7.     Christianity  introduced  into  England. 
63.     Martyrdom  of  Saint  James  and  Saint  Mark. 
70-2.     Destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus. 
98.  Death  of  Saint  John. 


SECOND  CENTURY. 

111.  Pliny's  Letter. 

117.  Ignatius  martyred. 

135.  Tertullian  born. 

150.  Apology  of  Justin  Martyr. 

167.  Poly  carp  martyred. 

185.  Origen  born. 


THIRD  CENTURY. 

202.  Irenseus  martyred. 

203.  Perpetua  martyred. 

235.     Gregory  Thaumaturgus  consecrated. 

249.     Decian  Persecution. 

251.     Anthony,  the  Hermit,  born. 


174  CHKONOLOGICAL   EVENTS. 

A.D. 

248.  Cyprian  consecrated. 

258.  Cyprian  martyred. 

259.  Saint  Lawrence  martyred. 


FOURTH  CENTURY. 

312.     Conversion  of  Coustantine, 
325.     Council  of  Nicsea  (First  General). 
326-73.     Athanasius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria. 
329.     Saint  Basil  and  Saint  Gregory  Nazianzen. 
342.     Saint  Jerome  born. 
372.     Saint  Martin  consecrated. 
374.     Saint  Ambrose  consecrated. 
381.     Second  General  Council. 
395.     Saint  Augustine  consecrated. 
398.     Saint  Clirysostom  consecrated. 
Pillar  Saints. 


FIFTH  CENTURY. 

428.  Nestorius,  Bishop  of  Constantinople. 

431.  Saint  Patrick,  Bishop. 

431.  Third  General  Council. 

451.  Fourth  General  Council. 


SIXTH  CENTURY. 

529.  Saint  Benedict's  Rule  established. 

553.  Fifth  General  Council. 

563.  Saint  Columba 

590.  Gregory  the  Great  consecrated. 

597.  Augustine  sent  to  England. 


CHKONOLOGICAL  EVENTS.  175 

SEVENTH  CENTURY. 


A.D. 

612.     Hegira  of  Mahomet. 
673-732.     Venerable  Bede. 
680.    Sixth  General  Council. 


EIGHTH  CENTURY. 


717-55.     Saint  Boniface. 

724.     Iconoclasm. 

732.     Victory  of  Charles  Martel. 


NINTH  CENTURY. 

800.     Charlemagne  crowned  :  d.  814. 
830-50.     False  decretals  published. 
845.     Hincinar  consecrated. 

Disputes  between  Eastern  and  Western  Church. 


TENTH  CENTURY. 

Religious  decline,  corruptions  in  Church  of  Rome. 
960.     Dunstan  consecrated. 


ELEVENTH  CENTURY. 

1071.     Lanfranc. 

1073.     Gregory  VII.  (Hildebrand)  Pope. 

Controversies  over  Transubstantiation. 
1093.     Anselm. 
1095.     First  Crusade. 


176  CHKONOLOGICAL   EVENTS. 

TWELFTH  CENTUEY. 

A.D. 

Carthusians,  Cistercians,  Hospitallers,  Templars. 
1091-1153.     Saint  Bernard. 
1147.     Second  Crusade. 
1152-90.     Frederick  Barbarossa,  Emperor. 
1170.     Thomas  a  Becket  murdered. 
1189-92.     Third  Crusade. 

Corruption  of  the  Church — Heresies. 


THIRTEENTH   CENTUEY. 

1200.     France  interdicted  seven  months  by  Innocent  III. 

1208.     England  interdicted  six  years. 

1213.     Children's  Crusade. 

1215.     Magna  Charta  signed. 

1209-16.     Albigensian  War  (against  heresy). 

Saint  Dominic  and  Saint  Francis. 
1223.     Inquisition. 
1230,     Inquisition  in  Spain. 
1226-27.     Saint  Louis's  (IX.)  Crusades. 
1229.     Successful  crusade  of  Frederick  II. 
1282.     Sicilian  Vespers. 

Architecture  and  Decorative  Arts. 


FOUETEENTH  CENTUEY. 

1303-77.     Papal  Court  at  Avignon,  France. 
1311.     Order  of  Templars  suppressed. 

Anti-papal  writings. 
1347-48.     ♦*  Black  Death  "  in  Europe. 
1378.     The  "  Great  Schism  "  in  the  Papacy. 
1324-84.     Eeformer  John  Wyclif  in  England. 
1369.     Eeformer  John  Hus  born,  Bohemia. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  EVENTS.  177 

FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

A.D. 

1414.  Council  of  Constance. 

1415,  Burning  of  Hus. 

1419.     Insurrection  of  Hussites  in  Bohemia  and  victories  of 

Ziska. 
1431.     Council  of  Basle. 
1438.     Rival  Council  of  Ferrara  and  Negotiations  with  Greek 

Church. 
1453.    Fall  of  Constantinople. 
1455.     First  Bible  printed. 
1465.     Erasmus  born. 
1478.     Inquisition  established  in  Spain. 
1480-92.     Conquest  of  Granada. 
1492.     Discovery  of  America. 
1492.     Reign  of  the  Borgias  (Alexander  VI.). 
1498.     Savonarola  burned. 


SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1513.  Leo  X.,  Pope. 

1517.  Luther's  protest  against  indulgences  (Melancthon). 

1519.  Zwingli's  preaching  in  Switzerland. 

1524.  Peasants'  War  in  South  Germany. 

1529.  Fall  of  Wolsey. 

1533.  Cranmer,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

1534.  Separation  of  the  English  Church   from   Rome   and 

suppression  of  Monasteries  in  England. 
1537.     English  Bibles  set  up  in  churches. 

Calvin  at  Geneva. 
1542-52.     Xavier's  missionary  work  in  India. 
1543.     Order  of  Jesuits  established  by  Ignatius  Loyola. 
1545-63.     Council  of  Trent. 
1549.     First  Book  of  Edward  VI. 
1552.     Second  Book  of  Edward  VI. 


178  CHKONOLOGIOAL    EVENTS. 

A.D. 

1553.    Mary's  reign,  Eomanism  restored,  Cranmer,  Eidley, 
and  Latimer  burned. 

1558.  Accession  of  Elizabeth.    English  Church  restored. 

1559.  Ee vision  of  Prayer-Book. 

1566.    Non-Conformists  organized  in  England. 
1569.     Pope  excommunicates  Elizabeth. 
1572.     Massacre  of  Saint  Bartholomew's  in  France. 
1588.     Spanish  Armada. 

Hooker's  Ecclesiastical  Polity. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 

1603.  Death  of  Elizabeth  ;  accession  of  James  I. 

1604.  Hami3ton  Court  Conference  and  review  of  Prayer-Book. 
1611.  King  James'  Translation  of  the  Bible. 

1619.  Synod  of  Dort. 

1625.  Accession  of  Charles  I. 

1644.  Execution  of  Archbishop  Laud. 

1649.  Execution  of  King  Charles. 
Interregnum. 

1660.  Accession  of  Charles  II. 

1661.  Savoy  Conference. 

1662.  Last  Review  of  the  Prayer-Book. 

1665.  The  Great  Plague. 

1666.  The  Great  Fire  of  liondon. 
1685.  Accession  of  James  II. 

1688.  Revolution.     Accession  of  William  and  Mary. 


Date  Due 


